Head Over Tailfins
by PerrythePlatypusGirl
Summary: Shiro is a human prince. Keith is a merman prince. They shouldn't be together, but they are. Aka, an incredibly self indulgent Sheith merman au. Mostly fluff with a bit of drama.
1. Chapter 1: First Encounter

The sound of waves crashing on the shore was the first thing Shiro heard as he slowly regained consciousness. That is, if you don't count the awful ringing in his ears. Groaning from the headache and trying to take some deep breaths, the young man tried to recollect his thoughts and figure out what had gotten him here.

It wasn't normal for a prince of a seaside kingdom to go wondering around on his own, and definitely not normal for him to accompany a local fisherman out to sea. But Shiro tended to get annoyed after...literally every conversation with his father and just wanted to get out of the palace. Lance, as much as he was a friend of Shiro's, wasn't exactly able to refuse his request for a ride, and that's how they'd found themselves out in the middle of the ocean.

Shiro didn't remember much after that. All had been going smoothly until they had suddenly both found themselves in the water. He remembered Lance desperately calling out for him, but he was unable to answer as something pulled him down, down, down...

A fit of coughs suddenly attacked the young prince as his eyes shot open. Shiro quickly sat up in a panic, only to trigger his headache further and have to stop moving to wait it out.

...he was on the beach. The last thing he remembered was being pulled down to a watery grave, but yet here he was. Soaking wet and in pain, but alive. Had he been rescued?

"Where am I...?" Shiro asked aloud, his voice hoarse. As he slowly looked around he spotted the outline of the large royal palace not too far off. A few miles away was the port where he had originally met Lance earlier that day. He knew this beach. He actually liked to come here often when he was in the need for a walk.

Now Shiro was just more confused. Slowly so as not to reawaken any more aches, he stood up and tried to figure out how he could have gotten here.

It was then that he noticed some movement from the corner of his eye, and he froze. It seemed that he wasn't alone on this beach. Shiro slowly turned toward the movement, and for the first time noticed the person who was lying down, half hidden atop a nearby rock, peering down at him warily. The stranger tensed up when he noticed Shiro looking, but otherwise didn't move.

Shiro blinked, studying the stranger silently for a moment. He was a young man, probably only a few years younger than Shiro. His face was delicate, a little feminine, with fierce-looking violet eyes and jet black hair that clung to his chin and neck due to being wet. He didn't appear to be wearing a shirt, and he was still staring down at Shiro almost defiantly.

Maybe he was still a little delirious from almost drowning, but Shiro swore he felt his heart skip a beat from looking at this boy's pretty face. It took him a second to remember how to speak again, for no other reason than his mouth had gone dry, and when he did, his voice came out embarrassingly hoarse once more.

"Uh..." he stammered out. "Do you...know how I got here?"

The other man stared at him a second longer, then slowly nodded.

Shiro tried again. "Did...did you bring me here? Did you save me?"

The other man nodded again.

A relieved smile found its way to Shiro's face, and he pushed back the white fringe of his otherwise dark hair from his face. "Th-thank you," he said. "Thank you so much, I...you'll be greatly rewarded for this, I promise."

Shiro stepped closer to the younger man, trying to get a better look at him, while the other didn't move from his spot. Shiro continued to ramble.

"What happened out there? Last thing I remember I was on a boat with my friend, I was pulled underwater and I almost...drowned..."

Shiro had circled around to the other side of the rock, and what he saw made him stop speaking and almost made him want to pass out again. For a second he swore that maybe he'd died after all and gone to heaven.

The boy didn't have legs. Where legs should have been, there was instead a long, red fish tail that stretched almost down to the water. The tail appeared to blend in with the skin of his top, human-looking half, and in the sun, it seemed to Shiro that it sparkled like rubies.

A merman. Shiro had been rescued by a merman. And a beautiful one at that.

He must have looked like a gaping fish right about then as he struggled to find words once again. "You...you're...not human."

The merman, now turned to a reclining position on his back, frowned at Shiro and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" he said, allowing Shiro to hear his voice for the first time. "And you're not merfolk. But you don't see me gawking at your lower appendages, do you?"

Hearing the merman's voice startled him, and the sharpness of his words caused Shiro to stumble back.

Shiro felt his face go red as he tried to recover from the shock. "Sorry, it's just...ah, up until now I thought merfolk were just a legend."

The merman looked offended. "Really? Is that so? Are you going to call all your human friends to come take a look at me now?"

"What? No."

A smirk. "Good. I'm awful with crowds anyway."

At this the young merman seemed to relax a bit. Shiro's initial shock quickly turned into curiosity, as he slowly approached the rock once more, gingerly placing a hand down near that shining red tail. "So...what's your name?" He asked.

"What's yours?"

"Shir-er," He quickly stood up straight, as he'd done his whole life whenever he introduced himself. A little pathetic given his current condition, but a force of habit still. "Prince Takashi Shirogane. Of Arus. " He straightened his shirt as much as he could as he spoke, and looked over at the newcomer once more. "And you are?"

The merman blinked. "You're a prince?"

"That's right. I know I might not look it now, but you can trust me on this."

A sort of scoff escaped from the other. "The humans need to take better care of their nobles. But wouldn't you know it, I'm actually a prince too."

"Really?" Shiro asked skeptically.

"Believe it. I'm Prince Keith of Altea. But I guess since we're kind of equals here, you can just call me Keith."

Shiro wasn't quite sure he believed the man, but he couldn't help the smile that slowly grew on his face at that. "Keith," he repeated, rolling the name around on his tongue. "Well, in that case, you can call me Shiro. It's what all my friends call me."

Keith mirrored his smile, and for a moment Shiro felt like the luckiest man in the world just to be able to see it.

"Shiro?" Keith said. "Not bad."

Shiro gulped, opened his mouth to ask one of the many questions currently rushing through his mind, when he suddenly heard several familiar voices getting closer and closer to the beach.

Keith immediately flinched at the sound, and in a flash, he'd disappeared into the water with a small splash and was quickly swimming away.

"Wait, no!" Shiro called out desperately, stumbling after him. "Come back! Keith!"

"There he is! I think I see him!" A young female voice cried out.

"What? How?" A male companion answered.

"Prince Shiro!"

Shiro, still dazed about everything that had just happened, slowly turned at the sound of his own name. He immediately recognized Katie and Matt, children of one of his most loyal servants, running his way along with their friend chef Hunk, and Lance.

"You're alive!" Katie cried happily, jumping up to hug him around the waist.

"We thought you were dead!" Hunk cried, joining in the hug and crushing them both in the process. "Lance told us he'd lost you in the water!"

"I-I thought you'd drowned!" Lance was stammering, looking paler than he usually was. "How did you get here?"

"I..." Shiro looked briefly back at the water, in the direction that Keith had gone. "I think I was rescued. By a...merman?"

His four friends seemed surprised by the statement, then Matt laughed nervously. "Uh...with all due respect, your highness, I think you might still be delirious." He briskly walked over and slung Shiro's arm around his shoulder to support him, and Hunk did the same on his other side. "Come on, let's get you back to the palace. You probably need some rest after everything."

"Uh...right." Shiro was too tired to argue with them right now, and to be honest he could use some rest. So he let himself be dragged along with them. Katie was continually expressing her relief that he was safe, while Lance was apologizing over and over again for what had happened. Shiro simply nodded at them both in acknowledgement, but more than once he found himself looking longingly back at the sea.


	2. Chapter 2: Building Friendship

Shiro didn't have to search too long before finding out his father had left during his time out at sea with Lance. Figures that he'd leave right after an argument and miss the fact that his son almost drowned. Not that his father was around very often anyway, so Shiro wasn't all that torn up about it.

Rather, his thoughts were occupied by the rather incredible person he'd met the other day. The merman. Keith. Only a few words had been exchanged, and Shiro found that he couldn't get his mind off him. Where had he come from? How did he save Shiro? What were merfolk kingdoms like, and why hasn't anybody seen them before? And most importantly, would he ever see him again?

Shiro ran a hand through his hair, leaning against the frame of one of the huge palace windows. He could easily see the beach from here.

...what were the odds that Keith would be there if he went down there now?

Shiro quickly shook the thought from his head. Nah, that was impossible. As much as he hated the thought of it, his encounter with Keith was probably a one-time thing. And it was a real bummer too, because there was so much he wanted to say to him, to ask him.

There were footsteps behind him, and Shiro turned to see Katie, tinkering with something in her hand as usual and wearing a smile on her face.

Shiro grinned back, amused. "Afternoon, Katie."

"Afternoon," the teenager greeted back, taking the greeting as permission to go stand next to him. "Good to see you, Prince Shiro. I thought you'd be locked up in your study all day."

Shiro scoffed at this. "Even a prince needs a break once in a while. Feels like I just have more work to do each day, instead of less."

"Wow. What will you do when you're a king, then?"

Shiro groaned. "Don't make me think about that."

"Sorry," Katie giggled slightly, then turned to look up at him. "So...whatcha thinking about?"

Shiro turned back to the sight of the beach and shrugged. "Just...things."

"Your new boyfriend from the sea?"

"Katie," Shiro replied sternly, but the girl just snickered.

"Sorry," she said again. "It's just that everyone's been talking about it ever since you got back. Hunk and Matt don't believe that he's real, but I do."

Shiro gave a curt chuckle. "Yeah, I'm honestly not so sure myself."

"What was he like?"

"Well, uh..." Shiro paused, recalling the image of the young merman that had been engraved into his mind. "He had a sharp tongue on him, for sure, but he seemed friendly enough."

Katie noted the small smile on the prince's face, and she smirked. "Was he cute?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Sure, Katie. He was cute."

Katie tried and failed to cover up her giggle. "Hey, if you want, I can try and make something that can find him for you. Maybe Lance could help too, since he knows about fish and stuff."

"Heh. That won't be necessary, but thanks for the offer."

"Ok, well, I'm here if you need me."

Katie continued to mess around with whatever was in her hands, and Shiro absentmindedly turned to the seashore once more. Once again he wondered what would happen if he went down to the beach right now. Even if he wouldn't find Keith, a break from the palace walls would certainly be welcome.

"I'm gonna go out for a walk," he told

Katie, pushing himself away from the window frame and heading away.

Katie frowned. "Uh...shouldn't someone go with you, prince Shiro?"

"I won't be out long," Shiro replied. "If I'm not back in an hour, send Matt to the beach after me."

"Uh...okay."

Shiro slipped quickly out of the palace and welcomed the fresh seaside air. Waving hello to a couple people as they passed by, Shiro briskly walked down to the beach, mind wandering and taking in the nice view of the ocean.

...and then he saw him.

At first it was just a flash of red, and Shiro froze as he watched the familiar head of the black-haired merman emerge from the water, followed by the rest of his body as he slipped up onto the same rock that Shiro had found him at before. Keith was back.

Shiro's immediate reaction was to duck behind the giant stone structure nearby, out of sight. He tried to slow down his rapid heartbeat. He honestly hadn't expected at all to see Keith again. Heck for a moment there he'd convinced himself that Keith had been nothing but a dream. And yet there he was.

Taking a shaky breath, Shiro slowly turned to peer out at him again. Keith was frowning, seemingly looking for something, before muttering in annoyance and running a had through his thick hair. Then he turned around to sit facing the sea.

Shiro hesitated, before slowly walking toward him, heart still pounding. "Keith...?"

Keith whipped his head around in surprise. Then his expression turned to one of irritation. "It's about time," the boy snapped. "I've been coming here every day and you haven't been showing up."

Shiro felt as if a flower made of pure warmth was blooming in his chest. "I...I'm sorry. You were coming here to see me?"

"Why else would I be here?"

Oh. Shiro really hoped the smile on his face wasn't too goofy-looking right now. "I'm sorry for making you wait. It's good to see you again, Keith."

A soft smile broke through Keith's previous annoyed expression. "Same to you, Shiro."

* * *

The regular commotion of the castle suddenly felt too loud, too annoying for the queen as she passed through. She looked elegant and poised as usual to an outsider, but for someone who knew her, it was obvious that she was incredibly upset about something. And that's exactly what her manservant was thinking as she swiftly swam over to him, a frown on her face.

"Coran?" The queen called out, prompting the merman in question to turn toward her with a slight bow.

"Yes, Queen Allura," he replied. "Is something bothering you?"

"Yes, actually," Allura said. "Have you seen Keith?"

Coran frowned at the mention of the queen's younger brother, then shook his head. "Not since this morning, milady."

Allura grumbled to herself and swam briskly over to the balcony, where she leaned down on her hands grumpily. "Where could he had gone?" The mermaid snapped. "I told him to take a guard with him if he ever wanted to leave!"

Coran couldn't help but smile in amusement. "Oh, don't worry so much about Prince Keith. He might be a troublemaker, but he can take care of himself."

Allura stared downward with a frown, but she couldn't deny that Coran's statement was true. "I guess you're right..."

"Good," Coran replied in satisfaction. He swam slowly over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, gently pulling her away from the balcony. "Now, you should probably get some rest. You've got a long evening ahead of you."

Allura nodded and allowed Coran to lead her over to her quarters. "I just...hope he hasn't gone and done something stupid."

* * *

"So...first I'd like to apologize," Keith began nervously, wringing his hands nervously in his lap.

Shiro, who was now sitting next to him on the rock, looked up at him in confusion. "For what?"

"The other day. I was messing around near the surface and I guess I angered a giant octopus...he went on a rampage and when I accidentally flipped you over he just grabbed you cause you were the nearest thing..." Keith bit his lip. "So, I...I'm kinda the reason that happened."

Shiro blinked, then gave a nervous laugh. "Ah, well...it's alright, it's really not your fault. And you did save me."

Keith shrugged. "I guess."

"...so, you were nearby here, huh?" Shiro ventured. "Does that mean you come here often?"

Keith was quiet, flicking at the water with his tail. "You could say that."

Shiro smiled softly at him. "Is it to get away from the palace? That's why I'm usually here."

Keith finally looked back at him and mirrored his smile. "That's part of it. But I guess I'm just curious about the surface world too." He shrugged. "I'm not actually supposed to be anywhere near here. Allura doesn't like humans, so she'd throw a fit if she found out I was talking to one."

"Allura?"

"My sister," Keith clarified. "She's kinda the ruler of Altea, so I'm supposed to listen to her, but..."

"You're a rebel," Shiro smirked at him and Keith shot him a glare. "Must be nice being the younger one. I would never get away with something like that."

Keith scoffed. "I mean, Allura's nice and all, but she can be a little...much."

Shiro chuckles slightly. "So...your kingdom. Altea, right? What's it like?"

"Wet."

"Seriously?"

Keith laughed softly. "It's pretty great. The folk are nice for the most part, and the views are amazing. And Allura's a great queen, so pretty much everyone is doing well. But it just..." he frowned. "Sometimes it's kinda boring. There's nothing new to see at this point, and I've got nobody to talk to, so I just kinda come up here."

"No friends?" Shiro asked, frowning.

Keith shook his head.

For the life of him Shiro couldn't figure out why anyone wouldn't want to hang out with Keith, but it was probably best not to ask. So he just nodded, staring down at the water that Keith was still flicking at with his tail. The conversation lulled for a second and Shiro tried to figure out what else to say, but Keith beat him to it.

"So you're...the heir, huh? What's that like?"

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't know? You're a prince too, right?"

Keith blinked at him before looking away quickly. "Uh-well, yeah, but uh...Allura is the queen, and when she has children they will be next in line so...nobody's ever thought of me as the heir. That's why I'm asking."

"Huh," Shiro mused, leaning back on his hands. "Merfolk must do things differently, then." He scoffed. "Consider yourself lucky. It's...stressful."

"Mm. I can imagine." Another pause. "You haven't told me what your kingdom is like."

It seemed that Keith was also trying to keep the conversation going as long as he could, and the the thought made Shiro smile. "It's pretty lively. Especially around the palace, a lot of people gather there."

Keith was smiling thoughtfully. "It sounds nice. I wish I could see it."

"You'd probably like it. There's always something crazy going on, and you seem like the adventurous type."

"What gave you that idea?" Keith smirked in his direction, and both of them laughed.

There was another pause, a nicer one this time. Both of them stared quietly out into the sea, Shiro trying not to be too obvious about sneaking glances at the merman every now and then.

"Are those the fishermen?" Keith asked casually, nodding toward the boats in the distance.

Shiro glanced at the boats himself and nodded. "Yeah. I guess it's about time for them to be heading out again." Then he frowned. "Which means I should probably be heading back. I've been out for a while."

For the first time Keith actually seemed to drop his facade of neutral coolness, as he looked quite disappointed when Shiro hopped down from his seat next to him. "You're leaving?"

Shiro bit his lip and stared apologetically back at him. "Yeah, well...if I don't go now, Matt will probably show up and drag me back anyway."

"Right, you're probably busy," Keith murmured. Then he turned to Shiro again. "Are you coming back tomorrow?"

Shiro blinked. "Why do you ask?"

For a second Shiro swore he saw Keith's face turn slightly pinker, but the merman quickly looked away and shrugged. "I mean...we're friends now, right? It's...kinda nice talking to you. Makes things less boring."

Shiro was stunned for a moment before feeling that unnaturally giddy smile on his face once more. "Oh, yeah. Uh, sure. I'll be back."

"Okay," Keith replied with a grin, his usual attitude back again. "See you tomorrow then."

Before Shiro could say anything more, Keith took that as his cue to leave and soon disappeared underwater. Shiro, on the other hand, took a second to remember how to move again. By the time he got back to the castle, though, he was in a much better mood than before.

* * *

 **A/N: hey so disclaimer, making Allura Keith's sister in this is NOT meant to be a jab at Kallura, I promise. :'D As you can probably guess, this story takes some inspiration from The Little Mermaid-Keith is Ariel, Shiro is Eric, and I juggled through a lot of characters to be King Triton and eventually settled on Allura. Because come on, Allura as the badass queen of the seas? I couldn't pass that one up.**

 **Nevertheless, if you don't like it, it's not present in any of my other stories. So you do what makes you feel better. ;D**


	3. Chapter 3: The Deal

Lance yawned and leaned on a wooden pole near the dock, waiting for the other fishermen to finish preparing to leave. Granted, he could always go out by himself, but after what had happened with the prince, nobody was letting him out of their sight. It was annoying, but Lance knew he could have gotten a much worse punishment so he kept his mouth shut.

Right now though, all he could do was wait while Hunk, his chef buddy from the palace, rambled on about whatever was currently on his mind.

"And Lance, if you're delivering to the palace again," Hunk was saying, "Please remember to leave the fish in the palace where they won't be stolen this time, okay?"

Lance groaned. "Will you let that go already? It was one time, dude."

"Yeah, okay, but you left me panicking and distraught about what I was gonna cook for the damn prince," Hunk snapped. "I just don't want to repeat that, okay?"

"Ok, buddy. I'll deliver the fish straight to the kitchen personally, while they're still alive and flopping."

"Good."

There was a moment of silence before either one of them moved. Just as Hunk was about to say goodbye and leave, they noticed a tiny figure headed their way. Lance perked up and Hunk raised an eyebrow as Katie quickly ran across the beach until she was in front of them, panting heavily.

"Hey, Pidgeon!" Lance cooed. "Been awhile since I've seen you."

"Uhh, you okay, Katie?" Hunk asked.

"I'm fine," Katie responded, standing up to her full height (which wasn't much). "And Lance, I told you to stop calling me Pidgeon."

"But you're so small and cute like a pigeon."

Katie rolled her eyes but let it drop. "Anyway, I wanted your help with something. You're good at tracking down fish, right?"

Lance grinned. "Of course I know how to track down fish, I catch them for a living after all."

Katie smiled. "Great! So, then, by extension, if there was a fish-human hybrid out there...you know, hypothetically, you'd be able to track him down too, right?"

Now Lance just looked confused. "Uh...what?"

Hunk groaned. "Ah, Katie, not this again..."

Katie ignored him and leaned closer to Lance. "Look, the prince keeps saying that he saw a merman out there, and I just want to know if it's true."

"Prince Shiro bumped his head underwater too hard, Katie," said Hunk. "Honestly, I'm worried about him, you don't need to encourage him like this."

"Well, I believe him!" Katie snapped, then turned back to Lance. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Pidgeon, I can assure you with all my knowledge of fishing-mermen don't exist. If they did, I'd know about it."

But Katie crossed her arms stubbornly. "Well, if you're not going to help me, would you at least teach me your apparently vast knowledge of fishing so I can look for him myself?"

Lance sighed and ran a hand through his brown hair. "Well, you won't find much, but okay..." he frowned. "Although, I'm kind of on probation for the next month after almost losing the prince underwater...tell you what, if the prince is still going on about merman after I'm free from this, then I'll take you out fishing and show you everything you want to know, okay?"

Katie smiled again. "Deal."

"Lance!" one of his fellow fisherman called out suddenly. "We're heading out, let's go!"

Lance grinned and started toward the boat filled with men, waving goodbye to his two friends. "Well, that's all the time I got today! Later, Hunk! See you soon, Pidgeon!"

"Don't call me Pidgeon!"

"Aw, but it suits you! How about Pidge? That works, right?"

Katie rolled her eyes. "Fine, Pidge works better."

"Pidge it is, then! Hasta la later friends! The sea is calling to me!"

* * *

Keith peeked out from behind a wall, checking to make sure nobody was around. He wanted to swim up to the surface to see Shiro again, but if anyone caught him, he was basically toast. Especially if "anyone" was Allura.

When Keith didn't find anyone, he grinned ready to himself and hurriedly began to swim upward, when-

"Keeeeeith! Prince Keith, where did you go?"

Keith stopped at the sound of Coran's voice, heaving a sigh. The servant in question appeared just a few feet away, swimming over to Keith as soon as he saw him.

"Prince Keith, there you are! The queen and I have been looking all over for you! You need to get ready for your royal portrait!"

Keith groaned. "Coran, can't we save this for later? I've got somewhere to be."

Coran raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And where's that?"

Keith paused, biting his lip. "Just...somewhere. I just don't want to do my portrait right now, okay?"

He was just about to turn away when he spotted Allura show up as well, swimming over gracefully as ever with an annoyed look on her face. Keith sighed.

"And just where do you think you're going, Keith?" Allura asked, stopping in front of him and crossing her arms.

"I just want to go somewhere real fast, Allura," Keith explained. "I'll be back in like an hour, and we can do the portrait then."

"Absolutely not, Keith, we're not keeping them waiting just so you can go off on another one of your scavenger hunts," Allura snapped. "Wherever you're going, it can wait until we're done."

"No, come on, I-" Keith stammered. This portrait would take hours, by the time it was done he will have missed his meeting with Shiro by a long shot...

Allura raised an eyebrow "What's the rush for, Keith? Is there someone waiting for you?"

"Um..."

"Are you _seeing_ someone?"

Keith flushed. "N-no, it's not like that..." he's paused. "Ok, well...sort of, I just...don't want to be late..."

Allura's eyes were wide as plates now, any sign of her previous annoyance now gone. "Who? Who is it?"

Keith grumbled under his breath. "None of your business, Allura..."

"What do you mean? Of course it's my business. You're my brother, and a prince, I need to know who you're seeing."

Coran cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but your date will have to wait, Prince Keith. We can't postpone this any longer."

Allura regained her previous composure. "Coran's right. Don't worry, we can send a message to your date with an explanation if you'd like. I'm sure they'll understand."

"It's not a date," Keith grumbled. Before Allura could say more he pushed past her and headed toward the castle. Might as well get this overwith as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Allura lagged behind with Coran, a thoughtful look on her face. "I never would have thought he'd be seeing someone, Coran," she muttered. "Is that where he's been disappearing to lately? He must be really attached to them, whoever they are."

Coran chuckled. "Yes, it's quite sweet, isn't it? And here we were worried that he'd never meet anyone at all."

"Yes, but something doesn't feel quite right," Allura frowned. "Why is he being so secretive about this?"

Coran patted her shoulder gently. "Don't worry yourself too much, milady. He's probably just shy about it. It's normal."

She hesitated, before smiling with a nod. "You're right, Coran. I need to trust him more." They finally reached the inside of the palace and Allura let the subject drop. But the uneasy feeling in her stomach was still there.

* * *

Shiro leaned against a large rock on the beach and sighed, staring over at the spot where Keith was usually waiting for him. In his hands there was a soft pink lily, one he'd picked up on his way here after days of convincing himself to give something nice to Keith. The merman was usually at their meeting spot first, and Shiro had had the whole scene planned out in his head. Keith would be waiting on the rock, Shiro would wait until he wasn't looking and then float the flower gently toward him on the water. It would have been like a cutesy romantic scene from one of the books his mother used to read him, but, alas, Keith was nowhere to be found when Shiro arrived.

He was a bit disappointed about losing this chance, but he figured it would be fine to just wait and give it to him normally. Unfortunately, however, it had been hours since their usual meeting time had passed and Shiro was starting to get anxious. Perhaps Keith had decided he didn't want to spend more time with him after all? Or maybe he'd forgotten.

Shiro frowned. No, Keith wouldn't forget about him, would he? Maybe...maybe something had happened.

He froze. What if something had happened to Keith? Maybe he was hurt. Maybe he'd been caught by something-or someone- while trying to sneak to the surface. Shiro could only imagine what would happen if the wrong set of people found out about Keith's existence.

Shiro room a deep breath. No, no, he couldn't let himself freak out over something he had no evidence for. Keith was probably just busy. The guy was a prince too, after all. If that was the case, they'd probably have to skip their usual date today-Shiro had to get back home soon anyway.

After a few more minutes of nothing, the human prince sighed and stood up to stretch his back. It was too bad. Seeing Keith had started to be the highlight of every day for him, and he'd gotten used to it. But what could he do, it wasn't like he could blame Keith for being busy, could he? He'd be back tomorrow.

A splash from the ocean stopped Shiro in his tracks just as he was leaving, and he looked up to see Keith's head emerge from the water, looking around frantically. Shiro's breath hitched when the merman's wide violet eyes locked onto him, and they both soon found themselves at the rock.

"I'm so sorry," Keith began immediately. "I didn't mean to be late-how long have you been waiting here?"

Keith's usual cool demeanor seemed to have evaporated at the thought of causing Shiro trouble, and Shiro couldn't help but smile at that. "Longer than usual," Shiro admitted softly. "But you don't have to worry about it, I figured you were just busy."

Keith ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, Allura and Coran made me stay for a stupid portrait I didn't want to do..." he huffed. "I can't believe you actually stayed here. You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but..." Shiro rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I just, I wanted to see you."

Keith blinked, a simple "oh" escaping him as he turned pink. He sat up on the rock, trying to hide a small smile behind his hand. Shiro saw it anyway. It was good to know that he could also leave Keith speechless after the merman had already done the same to him several times.

"Oh, by the way," Shiro began. He awkwardly held the flower in his hands out to Keith. "Uh, this is for you."

Shiro held his breath as Keith stared at the lily for a moment, before reaching out to take it from him.

"A flower?" Keith asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's it for?"

Shiro paused for a moment. He hadn't considered that Keith wouldn't understand the gift-he was practically from a different world, after all. But, uh...how was Shiro supposed to explain?

"Well, it's-uh, it's...a gift." He stuttered. "I thought it was nice, so, you know..."

Keith's eyes widened. "A gift? I-I didn't bring you anything..."

Shiro gave a soft chuckle. "No, it's ok. You don't need to give me anything, I just wanted to show you my appreciation."

"For what?"

"Just...you being here."

Keith was quiet, running his thumbs gently along the flower petals, before smiling softly. "Thank you."

Ah, there it was. Keith making his heart race with little effort, yet again. How he always did that to him, Shiro didn't know, but it was definitely worth waiting forever for.

"Anytime."


	4. Chapter 4: Firsts

They developed a sort of schedule after a while of meeting up every day. A few hours before lunch, Shiro would go out for a walk on the beach, and most people in the palace didn't question it. Keith would be there waiting for him, sunning himself on that same rock, that ruby red tail sparkling in the sunlight. Shiro would stay with him until he heard the afternoon bells ringing from the town, and upon his return Katie would ask to hear stories about the merman. Shiro was more than happy to oblige-he didn't mind talking about Keith one bit.

It was on a particularly warm day that Shiro found Keith rather restless, splashing around in the ocean around the rock rather than sitting on it. Curiously, he made his way over and leaned toward him, raising an eyebrow. "Everything okay there, Keith?"

Keith paused and looked up at him. "Oh. Shiro." he frowned. "Sorry, it's just...I was getting uncomfortable on the rock. It's hot."

Shiro chuckled. "Yeah, it does tend to get pretty warm around here, even in the winter. I wouldn't mind splashing around in the water myself."

Keith blinked, seeming surprised. "Can you swim?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. Most people can swim-not nearly as well as you, obviously, but enough to keep ourselves afloat in a pinch."

"I didn't know that. I thought you'd all just sink like rocks." He frowned. "But how do you do it? You've got no fins or anything."

Shiro shrugged. "We just...kinda tread water with our arms and legs." He made a swimming motion with his arms as he spoke, and Keith just snickered.

"That looks really awkward. No offense."

"Hey, we do our best, okay? I'd like to see you try _walking_."

"Touché."

Shiro grinned to himself as Keith hoisted himself back onto the rock. This, too, had become part of their routine, just explaining little things about their own respective species to each other. Keith tried to hide it but he always looked so adorably happy to learn something about humans, and Shiro felt the same. (Admittedly, it did get into slightly awkward territory at times-the other day Shiro had to explain sweat to Keith, since the latter had been wildly confused about why water was coming out of Shiro's body).

Right now, Keith's hair was already drying out, and was forming into an adorable ball of frizz as the merman huffed in the heat. Shiro chuckled softly. "You don't have to sit there if you're uncomfortable, you know."

"But it would be weird talking to you from the water."

Shiro frowned in thought. "I guess I could...sit at the edge."

"Come in the water with me."

"Huh?"

Keith slipped back into the water with ease and shrugged. "I mean, you can swim, right? It was just a suggestion." He flicked his tail and sent a few droplets of water splashing at Shiro's face. The ocean water felt really cool on his skin and Shiro had to admit, a nice swim in the heat did sound pretty tempting.

Shiro sighed and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. "Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt...but I can't stay for too long." He took a few steps away from the water to remove his shirt and shoes before slowly lowering himself into the ocean.

A sigh of relief escaped him as the cold water surrounded his body. He hadn't gone for a swim in the ocean in ages, apparently he needed it more than he'd realized. When Shiro turned to Keith, the merman had apparently frozen in place, staring at him with the widest eyes and the reddest face that Shiro had ever seen on him.

"...what?"

Keith dipped his head further in the water. "Nothing..." As if to emphasize the change in subject, Keith fully dunked himself in the water for a second before emerging with a grin. "So, let's see how fast you can swim."

Shiro scoffed. "No thanks, buddy, I'm in no mood to race."

"Oh, come on, your highness, you're not scared of losing, are you?"

"I know I'm going to lose against you, Keith. There's no point."

Keith raised an eyebrow. "Fair enough, I guess. I was just curious, in case, you know, a shark attacks you or something, I'd like to know if you'd get away safe."

Shiro chuckled, turning away to run a wet hand over his head. "Don't worry, I don't plan on going that far out." He paused, shaking his hair out of his face, waiting for Keith to reply.

When no response came, Shiro looked up, only to see that Keith had disappeared. He frowned. "Keith?"

An uneasy feeling began to form at the pit of his stomach when he still saw no sign of the merman. Keith couldn't have just ran off on him all of a sudden, right? Where could he have-?

Before Shiro even realized what was going on, Keith suddenly emerged out of the water and tackled him down, pulling him underwater for just a second before letting go.

Shiro surfaced, coughing slightly as he turned to glare at his friend. "What the heck was that for?!"

Keith leaned back against the rock with a smirk. "There, see? If I was a shark, you'd be dead."

In a burst of annoyance Shiro splashed some water at Keith's face and gave a huff. "Sharks don't come out here, you little shit."

Keith easily splashed him back with his tail. "That's not very princely language, Takashi."

"Tackling people underwater isn't very princely behavior, Keith." He splashed him again. "I think I'm allowed to curse a little."

"Fair enough," Keith made a bigger wave with his tail and held back a snicker when Shiro gave a surprised gasp. Shiro tried to shrug it off but Keith could see he was preparing to make an even bigger splash and quickly blocked it with his tail.

Keith raised an eyebrow again. "Shiro. Are you trying to start a splash fight? You child."

"Maybe," Shiro replied with a smirk of his own. "I might still be annoyed that you tried to dunk me underwater just now."

"I see," Keith replied, pushing himself away from the rock and closer to Shiro. "And you're okay with a splash fight against a merman in his home turf?"

Shiro blinked, then slowly held up his hands defensively. "Uh, hang on a second...take it easy, Keith-"

But it was too late. With a devious grin on his face Keith scooped up the ocean water with his tail and flung it at Shiro, who was just barely able to shield himself from it with his arms. Before Shiro could protest Keith sent another wave at him, and Shiro immediately ducked underwater to avoid the hit.

"Ok, ok!" Shiro sputtered as he surfaced again. "Quit dunking me in the water, geez!"

"Giving up already, Shirogane?" Keith snickered. "Shame, that was kinda boring."

Shiro grunted in annoyance. He wanted to kiss that arrogant smirk right off of Keith's face, but instead lunged at him and grabbed the merman by the waist. "Let's see how you like it then," he muttered, before pulling Keith underwater.

Keith struggled for just a moment before slipping free from Shiro's arms and returning the motion, dragging the human back up to the surface.

"Silly Shiro, did you really think that would do anything?" Keith chuckled, hands clasped securely behind Shiro's back as he pulled him closer.

Shiro blushed a little and rolled his eyes. "Maybe I just wanted my revenge. But fine, you win. I surrender."

Keith finally laughed, a sound that was music to Shiro's ears, and shifted the position of his arms to wrap more firmly around Shiro's back.

It suddenly hit Shiro just how _close_ he was. Noses almost touching, bare chests so close he could feel Keith breathing, and those eyes...God, those eyes. Shiro immediately went stiff and his entire face felt hot, as if he was standing in the sun once more. Keith must have noticed too, as his eyes were wide and his cheeks slowly turning red.

For a moment neither of them moved. If it wasn't for Keith holding him up, Shiro was sure he would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean right there. Keith had probably held him like this when he'd saved him that day. And Shiro hadn't been awake for it. He couldn't believe he'd missed that.

Finally, Keith shifted slightly (which just made Shiro'a heart thud even more), and averted his eyes away from Shiro's gaze. "Shiro..." he began, voice low. "Can I ask you something?"

Shiro gulped, trying his best to speak since his threat was suddenly dry. "Y-yeah, of course."

"How..." he paused. "How do humans show...affection?"

Shiro's breath hitched. "What...kind of affection?"

"You know..." he looked back up at Shiro shyly. " _That_ kind."

Holy shit. It took Shiro a moment to speak coherently again, but his voice still came out as a squeak. "Er, right, well, it's...it's a little...awkward and...i-intimate."

"Show me."

Shiro's pounding heartbeat was currently ringing in his ears and he felt a little lightheaded, hyper aware of every inch of him that was currently in physical contact with Keith. Shiro took a shaky breath as he reached up to cup Keith's face in his hand gently, allowing his fingers to brush against his dark black hair. It was soft. Keith's entire body was surprisingly soft, actually.

He gulped again, gaze settling on Keith's mouth before slowly pulling his face closer. Somehow Keith already seemed to know what to do. His eyes fluttered shut and Shiro mimicked him as he finally closed the gap between them.

The first kiss was short and chaste, barely a peck. The second was slower, longer, more indulgent. Keith made a quiet noise of surprise when Shiro softly licked his bottom lip, and it made a tingle go down his spine. Keith's tail was wrapped around Shiro's leg and Shiro's hand was tangled on his hair. It was almost as if they were trying to fuse with each other, but unfortunately, Shiro eventually had to pull away to breathe.

Keith was staring up at him with starry eyes and a soft smile, and Shiro couldn't help but mirror it as he bought their foreheads together. "Told you it was awkward."

"I liked it."

Shiro chuckled, making no effort to let go of Keith as he just gazed into those violet eyes, taking in every detail about them and trying to calm his still-pounding heart.

The spell was broken when he heard the bells ringing.

Shiro blinked as he was pulled back into reality and his smile disappeared. "Shoot," he muttered. Quickly, albeit reluctantly he pulled himself away from Keith and swam back to shore. He jogged over to where his clothes her and hastily began to put them back on, while Keith slipped back up to the rock.

"I was hoping I'd get some time to dry off," Shiro said. "Now I've gotta go back to the palace soaking wet."

"Sorry," Keith sing-songed. "Maybe next time we can wrestle on the beach so you can have the advantage. It's only fair."

Shiro rolled his eyes and shot a smirk in his direction. "I'll hold you to that." He finished getting dressed and paused, glancing over at Keith for just a moment.

Keith blinked at him and smiled. "See you tomorrow, then?"

Shiro was about to respond with an affirmative, but then stood up straight and slapped a palm to his forehead. "Ah, crap. Sorry, but no-I'm going to be pretty busy tomorrow."

"How come?"

"Well, it's...actually my birthday. Sort of."

Keith looked surprised and sat up. "Birthday? You didn't tell me about that."

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Shiro shrugged. "It just kinda slipped my mind. But they're going to keep me at the palace for the celebration, so I won't be able to slip away." He frowned. "They make way too big a deal of it, to be honest. I don't even care about my birthday that much."

"Should I bring you a present?" Keith asked suddenly.

Shiro paused, and chuckled. "No, you don't have to do that. Maybe I can bring you a slice of cake the next day or something."

Keith frowned, as if deep in thought. "Mm. Okay. I'll see you then, I guess. Happy Birthday, Shiro."

Shiro bit his lip, hesitating. Frankly, kissing Keith had already been the best birthday present he could receive. He paused for another moment, and before he could talk himself out of it, he strode forward and gave Keith another peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Keith. See you soon."

Keith stared back in surprise for a moment before his expression melted into a goofy little smile. "Right. Yeah. See you."

* * *

When Shiro woke up at noon a couple of days later, his head was still pounding, and vague memories of last night's rambunctious party flashed through his mind. But that didn't stop him from getting out of bed, getting dressed, and stumbling out of his room to head down to the beach. His headache wasn't nearly as bad as it was this morning, and he was sure that a nice walk on the beach and meeting up with Keith would chase the last of it away.

Before leaving for the beach, however, Shiro headed to the palace's large kitchen and poked his head inside, scanning through all the scurrying cooks until he finally spotted Hunk rinsing a pan nearby.

"Hey, Hunk," the prince called as he made his way over.

Hunk looked up with a surprise grin. "Hey, good morning, sleeping beauty. You finally managed to get out of your room."

Shiro chuckled. "Yeah, I figured a walk down to the beach would do me some good." He paused. "Hey, uh...you'd wouldn't happen to have any cake left over from yesterday, would you?"

Hunk paused his rinsing for a moment at this question and hesitated. "Er, actually, yeah. Last night you drunkenly asked me to save a slice so you could take it to...Keith."

Shiro blinked, not recalling a word of what he was talking about but still silently thanking his past drunk self nonetheless. "Ah, I see. Well, I think I'll take that slice now."

Hunk nodded and went to grab the slice of cake in question, holding it out to Shiro with a raised eyebrow. "Cake for breakfast, huh? You sure you don't want some eggs or something?"

"Maybe when I get back. Thanks, Hunk."

"Of course." Another pause, another curious look. "Uh, are you still planning on sharing it with...Keith?"

"Yes."

Hunk clicked his tongue, looking like he wanted to say something but wondering if it would be out of line. Instead he just settled for, "Ok, well, let me know if he likes it."

Shiro blinked and nodded slowly before turning to leave. Most people didn't know about Keith's existence and he figured it was better that way, but he knew for sure that he could trust his servants at the palace-too bad most of them didn't believe him.

As he walked through the palace toward the door, Katie skipped out toward him with a grin on her face, and waved. "Hey, Prince Shiro! You're finally awake?"

Shiro smiled at her. "Yeah, finally. How are you doing today? Not causing too much trouble, are you?"

"Not yet," she giggled. "Are you going out to see your boyfriend again?"

Shiro felt himself flush. "He's not my boyfriend, Katie..." _At least, I haven't asked him yet. God knows what Katie would say if she knew I kissed him the other day._

Katie looked skeptical, but looked content to just shrug it off and let him go. "Whatever you say. Have fun~"

As soon as Shiro breathed in the crisp air outside, he immediately felt better. The beach was cooler today, so no swimming with Keith today, though just seeing him was enough for Shiro. Lo and behold, as soon as he got to their usual spot, the merman was sitting there, waiting for him.

Shiro felt a goofy smile cross his face involuntarily, as was the usual. "Keith!"

Keith looked up and his face immediately brightened, his shoulders seeming to sag with relief. Shiro waved to him with his free hand and was about to ask how he was doing, but as soon as he got closer Keith leaned forward and gave him a tight hug.

Shiro initially stiffened up in surprise, but didn't hesitate to return the gesture. He chuckled as they pulled away. "It's only been a day. Did you miss me that much?"

Keith looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry, it's just...uh, I wasn't sure you'd be here."

"Why wouldn't I? I'm on time, right?"

"Well yeah, it's just..." Keith ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "Ah, never mind, it's dumb. You're here now."

Shiro frowned, reaching forward to tentatively take Keith's hand. "Is something wrong?"

Keith blinked and shrugged again. "Well, I...I was up here yesterday, at night, you know, just cause...and I saw those colored explosions in the sky and I...wasn't sure if they were good or bad and I...uh, I thought maybe something bad was happening and I..." he gulped. "I-I wasn't sure what to do, I wanted to go see what was going on but I couldn't leave this beach, and I had to leave. I wasn't able to sleep and well..." he looked away again. "I may have...been here for several hours waiting..."

Shiro's jaw had dropped in the middle of Keith's story and he just blinked at him. "I-wh-oh, Keith, no..." he put the plate in his hands on the rock and reached up to gently pull Keith's chin up to face him. "Those were fireworks. We light them up for celebrations, they're completely safe."

Keith gave a hollow laugh. "Well, I know that now, but I wasn't sure." He frowned again. "And I just...I don't like being unsure."

"Oh, Keith, I'm so sorry," Shiro cooed. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's not your fault," Keith replied, before taking a deep breath and smiling at him as if nothing had happened. "So, I guess that means you had a pretty good birthday, huh?"

Shiro chuckled. "Ha, yeah, everyone always goes so overboard. I appreciate it, but it can be a bit...much." He scoffed. "I wish you could have been there though."

"Well, you know, it's not like I can go any further than here. Unless you want to carry me around in your arms and draw attention to us."

Shiro chuckled, not sure if he should tell him that he actually wouldn't mind carrying Keith around in his arms at all. Keith was right, though, it's not like they could ever meet up anywhere aside from the beach. Keith was practically from a different world, and the beach was like the one border between the land and ocean that neither of them could really cross. They were stuck here. And Shiro didn't want to admit that this bugged him. "Yeah."

He pushed away the depressing thoughts and instead returned to the plate he'd brought with him. "But, anyway, I did manage to save you a slice of cake. If you want it."

Keith perked up and reached over to the other side of his tail, picking up a small stone plate of his own. "Oh, right. I actually brought you some too."

Shiro blinked. "You did? What for?"

"Well, since you said you'd bring me human cake to try, I figured I'd ask the cook to make some cake too, so you could see what ours is like..." he shrugged. "If you want..."

Shiro smiled at him and accepted the plate. "Sure. Maybe we can critique each other's cake styles."

He heard a scoff from the merman, and then pinched off a piece of the sea cake. It definitely felt...weird, almost like a sponge. Curiously, he put the piece of cake in his mouth, and immediately cringed.

Meanwhile, Keith was doing the same, and he didn't look too happy either. "It's so dry..."

"Uhm," Shiro began as he swallowed the cake in his mouth. "Do merfolk not put any sugar in their cake?"

"No. Why would you put sugar in cake? Why do you do it?"

Shiro gave a hollow chuckle. "We're not big fans of incredibly salty sponges for dessert."

Keith shrugged. "What can I say? We merfolk are a salty bunch."

Shiro rolled his eyes and took another bite. "It's not bad, though. Just not what I expected. Mind if I take it with me?"

"Sure, show it off to your whole kingdom, make it the next baking phenomenon."

Shiro rolled his eyes once more. "Right. So...what else were you up to yesterday?"

Keith groaned. "Allura's been getting on my case. She's been trying to figure out where I've been going every day. I'm...honestly terrified of what might happen if she finds out."

"How come?"

Keith sighed, and spoke quietly. "She hates humans. One of them killed her father."

Shiro's jaw dropped and he was silent. Keith merely continued.

"Best case scenario, she'll make sure I never come back here. Worst case, she...might try to hurt you. She's unpredictable like that."

Shiro but his lip, hesitating before responding. "Your sister, she, uh...you haven't told me much about her."

"She's not a bad person," Keith said hastily. "Really, she's great. But nobody's perfect. She's stubborn, she's nosy, she gets scared sometimes. But she tries her best." He sighed. "Humans, though, that's...a different story. Every time I try to talk to her about it, she shuts me down. I guess I can't really blame her, but it's frustrating."

Shiro smiled softly and gently took Keith's hand in his own. "She's only trying to protect you. I can't blame her either."

"Yeah. I mean, I wish she could change her mind. She probably would if she met you. But she hasn't been the same ever since her dad died."

Shiro hummed thoughtfully and frowned. "Why do you keep saying her dad? Isn't he your dad too?"

Keith suddenly stiffened, and stared at him with wide eyes. "Uh...well, I guess, but..." he stopped, staring at Shiro's confused expression, before taking his hand away and huffing. "Ok, fine. I have a confession to make."

"What?"

"I call Allura my sister, but we're not _actually_ related. I was...an orphan. And her dad took me in."

Shiro blinked. "You're adopted?"

"Surprise," Keith snapped. "I'm not _actually_ a prince."

Shiro was a bit taken aback by the sudden bitter tone in Keith's voice. This didn't seem like such a big deal, but it seemed to be so for Keith. He could only imagine, having to deal with people's frustration at him-they were forced to treat him like a prince, when he wasn't actually of royal blood. It suddenly made a lot of sense why Keith didn't have any friends in Altea.

Keith wasn't looking at him. He was probably preparing himself for yet another rejection.

"Keith," Shiro began gently. "Of course you're a prince. Royal blood or not."

Keith looked confused for a moment and Shiro reached out to take his hand once more. "And besides," the human continued with a shy smile. "You're a prince to me."

A wave of different emotions crossed Keith's face, and Shiro waited for him to speak.

Instead, though, Keith simply scooped up some water with his tail and splashed Shiro in the face.

Shiro stumbled backwards a few steps and sputtered, while Keith tried not to snicker. "What-what was that?"

"Sorry, I forgot to mention-you should keep the cake wet or else it starts tasting awful."

"You little-" Shiro marched right back up to the rock and gave Keith a shove. "After I was nice to you!" He perched himself up onto the rock next to Keith, pouting at him as the merman tried to look innocent.

"Yeah, well, you were being sappy."

"I meant it, you know."

"I know," Keith's playful expression disappeared as he smiled up at him softly. "Thank you. That...it really means a lot."

"Of course. I'm glad you told me." He leaned down to give Keith a gentle kiss on the cheek. "But don't splash me again, or I'll stop being nice."

Keith slapped his tail playfully against the water. "No promises."


	5. Chapter 5: Discovered

Katie had rushed through her chores that morning, yelling a vague apology to her mother as she dashed out to the dock. Lance apparently wasn't here yet, so Katie was merely seated on one of the poles, looking over her notes. According to the prince, the merman Keith showed up every day before lunch time, and only then, to meet with him. But Prince Shiro had also mentioned that Keith as the adventurous type-so maybe there were other times he would come to the surface. She certainly didn't want to interrupt any of Shiro and Keith's dates, but looking around the sea around lunch time, along with Lance's so-called expertise in hunting marine life, might yield some results.

Katie supposed she could lay off a bit on her obsession with finding the merman, but she was much too curious of a girl to do so. Who wouldn't get excited at the prospect of seeing a mythical otherworldly creature for themselves? That, and she's also made a bet with Hunk about whether or not Keith even existed.

Several of the fisherman shot her confused glances as they passed by, but otherwise minded their own business. After a while, however, Katie decided that she was sick of waiting.

"'Scuse me!" She called to one of the fisher boys passing by. "Do you know where Lance is?"

The boy blinked. "Oh, he's not goin' out on our boat anymore. He's been allowed to go out alone again since yesterday." As he spoke, he pointed farther down the dock, where several smaller boats were waiting.

Katie's eyes widened. "Ah, shoot, that jerk better not have left without me!" She quickly thanked the boy before hopping off the pole and running in that direction as fast as her small legs could carry her.

Fortunately, Lance was still gathering his stuff into the boat when Katie arrived. Frowning, she put her hands on her hips, but Lance simply smiled innocently at her. "Good morning, Pidgeon! Been a while since I've seen you here."

"No more Pidgeon, remember?" Katie huffed. "We agreed on Pidge."

"Right, my bad."

Katie took a step closer and leaned toward him. "We also agreed that you'd take me out fishing after your probation is over."

Lance paused, his smile awkwardly freezing on his face, before he sighed. "I was hoping you'd forgotten about that."

"Come on, Lance, I never forget about anything."

Lance chuckled, but motioned for Pidge to get into his boat. "Climb on in, then, I'll take you for a spin. Hunt for some mermen, the usual. Prince Shiro still going on about him, huh?"

"Yeah, Lance, he's absolutely _smitten_ by this Keith guy," Katie replied, sitting down. "He's just got to be around somewhere."

"Yeesh," Lance simply muttered. When it seemed like he had everything ready to set out, he reached over and grabbed a small life jacket for Katie. "Here, Pidge, you might wanna put this on."

"I can swim, you know," Katie replied, though she took it anyway.

"Yeah, but it's a liability thing. I almost lost the prince underwater and I'd like to not have a worse reputation than I already do."

Katie merely laughed and put the life jacket on, waiting eagerly until Lance finally detached the boat from the dock and set out. Some of his fellow fishermen waved goodbye and shouted teases at him, but Katie paid him no mind, instead just running her fingers along the surface of the cold water as the boat moved further out to sea.

Briefly, Katie realized how this must have looked on the outside. A fisher boy taking a girl alone out to sea to show off what he could do...it definitely seemed like a date. She could imagine Matt's freak out if he were to find out about this. But she trusted Lance and besides, she couldn't focus on that now. The girl had an objective to focus on.

* * *

Keith leaned down farther on the marble table, trying to keep his eyes open as Kolivan droned on about the history of Altea's ancient underground magic that nobody ever used anymore or really cared about. It's not as if he really needed any of this political knowledge, nobody outside the palace even saw him as a real prince, but Allura insisted that he should know it anyway because...reasons.

"As you know, the war raged on for over 100 years, longer than any in merfolk history," Kolivan lectured. "King Malfun was left with no choice but to dig through the ancient archives, trying to find something that nobody was even sure existed. It wasn't so long ago, and yet absolutely historic..."

Keith sighed as he zoned out once more, eyes slowly sliding toward the clock. If Kolivan could maybe hurry it up a bit, he could have a couple hours to himself before going up to see Shiro. Maybe he could get something for him. Shiro brought him gifts all the time, and while he insisted he wanted nothing in return, Keith would still feel bad if he didn't get him something.

Apparently Keith's smile over thinking about Shiro was too obvious, because next thing he knew Kolivan had slammed his hand down on the table, making Keith nearly jump out of his skin.

Kolivan's stern expression didn't change. "Finished daydreaming yet, Prince Keith?"

Keith remained stiff for a second and forced a smile. "I wasn't daydreaming."

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't. You were talking about...war archives."

Kolivan raised an eyebrow.

At this Keith dropped the act and rolled his eyes. "I don't understand why I need to know this. It's not like I'll ever be the king around here."

"Trust me, I wish I didn't have the be your teacher. But if you want to be taken seriously as part of the royal family, you'd better know this stuff. Now sit up straight."

Keith sank lower in his seat.

After what felt like ten years (Kolivan probably made it longer than usual just to annoy him), Keith was finally allowed to bolt out of his chair and get some much needed exercise. He couldn't handle sitting in one place for too long.

He had a few minutes left before he had to sneak away. After swimming around aimlessly in the castle garden for a few minutes, he decided to go check through some of the castle's treasuries to see if he could find something nice for Shiro.

Allura was slumped over in a big comfy chair in one of their common rooms, reading over some documents when Keith burst in and started looking through some of their belongings. The young queen straightened up when she heard the door, but relaxed again when she saw that it was only Keith.

"Oh, here you are, Keith," she greeted with a grin. "Did Kolivan talk you to sleep again?"

"Mm," Keith responded without looking up. "Pretty sure my tailfins fell asleep three separate times."

Allura snickered. "What was he talking about?"

"Malfun's magic."

"Really?" She sat up again. "Well, I'd think that would be a little more interesting, right?"

"I mean..." Keith paused in his search and thought for a moment. "I just think it's being a little over exaggerated. You're telling me that the kingdom is sitting on a bed of insane war-stopping magic and we're not doing anything with it?"

Allura simply frowned. "Malfun's magic is only for use of the monarchs. And only in most dire of situations."

Keith blinked, deciding to drop the subject. Allura could be a real stickler for tradition and he wasn't in the mood to fight with her now. "Alright, whatever you say. Kolivan's lectures are always boring either way."

He continued rummaging through boxes, until Allura looked up from her document once again. "What...are you doing, exactly?"

Keith paused, not really looking at her. "Uh, I'm...just looking for something."

"What sort of something?"

He was quiet, wondering how much he could tell her without giving himself away. "Nothing in particular, just...something I could use. Something that's nice but not overly fancy."

Allura seemed confused for a second, but then a sly smirk crossed her face and she finally got out of her seat to swim close to him. "Keith...this wouldn't happen to be for that special person you've been seeing, would it?"

Dammit. Allura could be really nosy when she wanted to be. Keith had to backtrack. "Allura, I told you. There's no special someone. I just...wanted to try something."

In response, Allura just pouted. "Keith, I know there's something you're not telling me." When he didn't answer, she continued with a sigh. "I...don't understand why. You know you can trust me, right? If the person is that important to you, then I'm sure I'd love them too."

Keith bit his lip, knowing that wasn't true. "It's not...he's just a friend, okay?" A friend that I've kissed a few times. "I don't want anything to get all...weird."

Allura stared back at him, clearly upset. But before she could say anything else, Coran interrupted them with a knock on the door. "Your highness? Queen Allura? Are you in there?"

Allura blinked. "Oh, uh, yes Coran, come in!"

Coran opened the door and stood under it, bowing hastily with a smile. "Sorry to interrupt, but that farmers' union you agreed to speak with have arrived. They're waiting for you outside."

Allura nodded. "Yes, of course. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Coran seemed satisfied and left, while Allura turned back to Keith. "Well," the queen sighed. "I guess we can talk about this later. If you want something nice to give him, though, you can take one of the sea lion sculptures off my shelf."

Keith's eyes widened. "Wait, really? Isn't that part of your collection?"

Allura waved her hand. "Don't worry, those things are a feshel a dozen. Go ahead and impress your boyfriend with one, I don't mind."

"Not my boyfriend," Keith muttered. At least, not officially yet. "But thanks Allura. I owe you one."

"No worries. I have to go now," she hurried toward the door and winked at him as she left. "Have fun on your date! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Keith felt his face heat up and rolled his eyes once more. Nevertheless, he took her up on her offer and went to look through her collection of sculptures. If Keith felt bad about lying to Allura before, he felt absolutely awful about it now. If only she'd listen to him and stop mindlessly hating all humans, he could make her understand. She really would love Shiro if she gave him a chance, Keith knew it. But, sadly, for now, he'd have to keep it a secret for as long as he could.

After looking for a short while longer, Keith picked out a shiny black sea lion statue with pretty red and yellow markings. Hopefully Shiro would like it. Keith swam back to his own room to grab a satchel for the gift, slung it over his shoulder, and quietly left the castle. He'd have to get pretty far away before he'd be able to sneak to the surface unseen, but luckily, he already had plenty of practice with that.

* * *

Keith tried not to think too much about what would happen now that Allura knew he was seeing someone. She'd probably want to see him eventually, and well...Keith would cross that bridge when he got to it. For now, he was just excited to see Shiro again, and after swimming upward for a while, he could see the rippling surface of the water getting closer.

Then, the shadow of a small fishing boat entered his field of vision, causing Keith to stop in his tracks. What was this? He and Shiro had specifically scheduled their meetings for when the fishermen went back to the docks for lunch. They didn't want anyone to accidentally catch Keith in their nets on his way up. Had the fisherman changed their usual schedule? Keith didn't see any other boats around.

Cautiously, Keith paddled a little closer to the boat, swimming around it to see if he could see any humans without surfacing. Although he didn't believe Allura's claims that any human would harpoon him on sight (Shiro was proof that she was wrong) it still wouldn't hurt to stay hidden when observing these guys.

From where he was, Keith could see one human on the boat, a lanky young man, who didn't seem to notice Keith and was instead talking to someone on he other side.

"Found any signs of life down there, Pidge?" the young man seemed to be saying, from what Keith could head underwater at least.

"Not yet," a feminine voice replied from the other side of the boat. "What was it, you said? Find the place with the most seaweed?"

Slowly, Keith made his way under the boat, but quickly stopped. The girl on the other end was looking directly into the water and even sticking her hand in. She'd surely spot him if he got too close, so he stayed underneath the boat.

"Sure, if Mr. Merman likes to eat," said the boy, half jokingly.

The girl was quiet for a second, before she started musing. "I mean...I'm not sure if a merman would act exactly like a fish, you know? He'd be smarter than a bunch of dumb fish."

"Yeah, that makes sense. He's like...half-human, right? I'm just saying, if he's able to make it to the surface every day, then I think he'd know some basic survival stuff."

Keith felt his body go cold. Were they...searching for him? They couldn't be, right? Shiro had told him that the only other humans he ever talked about Keith to were his servants. Were these Shiro's servants? That girl's name was...Katie, right? What did they want?

The girl stuck her hand in the water, but other than that they made no other movements, idly continuing their conversation. Keith let out the breath he'd been holding and decided it was probably time to go. Slowly, be removed himself from the bottom of the boat, and flicked his tail to start swimming away-

"Whoa, hold on! I think I just saw something!"

Keith froze.

The girl was obviously running across the boat now. "Did you see that? There was a ripple in the water! He's right under us!"

"...Uh, I didn't see anything."

"Oh come on, Mr. Expert Fish Tracker! You should be able to tell when there's something huge under your boat! This explains why you almost lost Prince Shiro in the water, huh?"

Keith was holding his breath again. So this girl was in fact Katie. And the boy was the fishermen who was with Shiro when Keith had saved him. Good to know that he was alive, at least, but right now Keith was too focused on finding a way to get away from here without these two making a ton of noise about it. He cursed himself for stopping to check out this boat in the first place instead of heading straight to shore like he planned.

Meanwhile, the boy seemed offended. "Oh, wh-hey! Too far, Pidge! Look, see? I'm looking at the water, no ripples or anything. You were just imagining things. Can we please go back now? I'm hungry!"

"No, you said we'd be here until we find the merman!"

"There is no merman!" the boy finally shouted in exasperation. "We'll be out here forever if we do it your way! The merman. Doesn't. Exist!"

Keith frowned.

"But Prince Shiro-"

"Prince Shiro is _insane_!" the boy snapped. "He's lost it, Pidge, okay? He hit his head, or he's insanely traumatized or whatever, but he's not himself. This _Keith_ character is something he made up to cope with it, okay? Hunk knows it, I know it, you're the only one who doesn't seem to get it, which is weird because I thought you were a genius, but whatever! Point is, there's no merman. Done. Over. Stop it."

The girl was quiet. Meanwhile, Keith was still underneath then fuming. How could this so-called friend of Shiro's talk about him like that? Did he not trust him? And what was this about Keith being made up? Who was this idiot, rambling on about things he knew nothing about? _Made up. I'll show him who's made up, that rotten, shitty, worthless little punk-!_

On top of the boat, Pidge was trying not to react too strongly to Lance's outburst. She tried to be rational. The boy was tired, and hungry, and from his point of view he was going on a wild goose chase. Before she could say anything though, Lance gave a sigh and took a step closer.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to yell at you. But, I just think, we should be focused on the prince. You know, _not_ encouraging his little daydream, and instead we could-"

Suddenly there was a loud _BANG_ against the side of the boat, sending both of them stumbling into each other. Pidge found herself grabbing onto Lance out of instinct, suddenly self-concious but trying not to show it. "Wh-what was that?"

 _BANG! CRACK!_ Another shake, this one obviously worse and breaking something in the boat. Lance opened his mouth to say something, but next thing they both knew, the boat was tipping over, and both of them tumbled into the water with a loud yelp.

Lance was the first to surface, coughing and sputtering. "Pidge! Pidge, where are you?"

Pidge popped up behind him, gasping for breath, as they both swam over to each other. "What the heck just happened?!"

"I don't know! S-something just attacked us!"

"Over here, _asshole_." a third voice suddenly interrupted.

Lance whipped his head around in shock, only to meet a pair of fuming purple eyes. He screamed, splashing over to grab Pidge, pulling her away from the creature. In response, the merman hoisted himself onto the wreckage of Lance's boat, staring down at them, angrily and arrogantly.

Yes, he was a merman alright. Half human, half fish, right there. His tail was red and sparkly, and his eyes were purple, just like Prince Shiro had said. Pidge thought for a moment that she was dreaming. "A-are you..." she stammered. "Are you Keith?"

"That's _Prince_ Keith to you," Keith spat. "Who's a nonexistent fairy tale now?" He slipped back in the water, splashing them with his tail as he want. "And watch what you say about your prince, fisherman. Learn your place. Next time it won't just be your boat."

As the two teens watched in awe, Keith smoothly turned away, dove into the water, and disappeared.

It took them a second to recover. Lance spoke first. "Did...did he just _threaten_ me?"

As they both grabbed onto pieces of the wreckage to keep themselves afloat, Lance continued to rant. "He did! That jerk! He wrecked my boat and then he threatened me!"

Pidge started to giggle.

"What the hell is so funny? Pidge, we're fucking shipwrecked!"

"I was right!" Pidge bragged. "You said he didn't exist. You didn't believe me, but I was right!"

"Okay, you were right, I'm sorry!" Lance cried. "The merman is real. And he's awful! What does Prince Shiro see in a guy like that?"

"Hey, he's just mad because you insulted his boyfriend. I'm kinda mad too, actually."

Lance grunted, pulling himself to sit atop the wreckage and pulling Pidge up next to him. "Mad, shmad. He wrecked my boat! Their other fishermen have to know about this, he's dangerous!"

Pidge's eyes widened. "Wait, you can't just go around telling people, you don't know what they might do!"

"I have to tell someone Pidge! Are you not paying attention? He destroyed my boat! How are we even supposed to get back?"

"Oh, relax," Pidge sighed. "We'll just wait for your fisherman buddies to show up and wave them down. You just gotta make sure to apologize to Keith next time you see him."

" _Next time?!"_

* * *

Keith's heart was still pounding, adrenaline and frustration coursing through his veins, as he swam as fast as he could from the boat. He'd fucked up. Majorly. He'd been too annoyed by that boy's comment to even think about the consequences or even consider helping them out after he left them stranded out at sea (humans could swim, right? For how long? They wouldn't drown, would they?). A brief look back confirmed that they had climbed on top of the wrecked boat, safe for now, so Keith continued onward.

Keith took a deep breath and decided _not_ to tell Shiro that he'd gone and lashed out at his servants over a couple of dumb comments. Not that he thought Shiro would get upset with him, but...he didn't want to muck up another potential relationship by being his dumb reckless self again. Especially since he liked Shiro a _lot_.

Shiro was waiting for him by the rock when Keith surfaced. The human prince smiled. "There you are. Everything okay? You seem a little out of breath."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Keith replied, hoisting himself up to sit next to Shiro. "I was just swimming away from my sister again."

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Swimming away? Does she really bother you that much?"

"No, not really. I just can't let her know I'm with a human, remember? Anyway, I've got something for you." He reached over to the satchel around his shoulder, and pulled out the tiny sea lion sculpture that had miraculously not broken in the chaos. "It's part of a little collection we've got," Keith explained shyly as he held it out to Shiro. "Thought you might like it."

Shiro looked completely floored, reaching out to hold the item delicately. "Wow this...this is really nice, Keith. Thank you, I don't-"

Keith cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Shush. Don't go on about how I didn't have to do it. I want you to keep it, okay?"

Shiro blinked in surprise but then chuckled. "Alright, Keith, whatever you say. What's this thing made of, anyway?"

Their conversation continued from there, just like it always did. They talked about whatever was on their mind, idly switching from one subject to another, simply enjoying each other's company. It was warm, and the sea was quiet. At some point, Keith found himself zoning out from whatever Shiro was saying, instead just looking at him, watching how beautifully expressive he was while he rambled on about whatever.

Shiro noticed this, and paused in his talking to raise an eyebrow. "What are you looking at?"

Keith blinked out of his trance and turned away coyly. "Nothing." He paused, aware of Shiro's eyes still on him. "Hey...Shiro?"

"Yeah?"

"...would it be okay if I called you my boyfriend?"

Shiro blinked a couple of times, surprised at the sudden question, before a smile and a blush appeared on his face. "Oh. Heh. I was going to ask you the same thing." He stroked his thumb against the sea lion sculpture before continuing softly, "Yeah, I...think that would be the logical conclusion."

Keith listened to his words and smiled. "Good," he said. "Would have been awkward if you said no."

Shiro chuckled and turned to look back at him. Keith leaned forward to kiss him softly on the lips, and the human wasted no time in returning the gesture.

It was just as pleasant and warm as the first time, even if Keith was still a little awkward at it. Even when they finally broke the kiss, they didn't pull apart. Shiro held him close, arms strong and warm, and Keith sighed happily against his chest. God, he couldn't remember the last time someone had made him feel this happy and soft, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered to him aside from what was happening right now.

They split up with a laugh and another kiss, as well as a promise to see each other again tomorrow.

* * *

Lance and Pidge didn't have to wait too long before they were rescued, and of course the fishermen who picked them up wanted to know what the heck had happened to Lance's boat.

Lance wasn't having an easy time convincing them.

"So, what you're saying is," one of the other fishermen snickered. "A siren attacked you and your girlfriend while you were out fishing?"

Pidge looked down shyly.

Lance sighed. "Yes, but not a siren-he wasn't singing. And he wasn't attractive either! He was ugly, really ugly!"

Pidge then rolled her eyes and spoke up. "Oh shut up, Lance, he was gorgeous."

"No he wasn't!" Lance snapped. "Ugly as sin, and a worthless boat-wrecker too!"

"Well, was he ugly or not?" laughed one of the older sailors. "Get your story straight, kiddos!"

"Ugly!" Lance declared. "But it doesn't matter. The point is-he's out there, you guys! And he's dangerous, you saw what he did! We have to do something about it!"

"Oh Lance, I think your girlfriend might be a bad influence on you," chuckled the older one. "Too many cutesy fairy tales."

Pidge frowned and was about to retort, but the other sailors cut her off with their continued banter.

"Or maybe you've been listening to too many sailor's tales. Don't take your boat out between noon and one-the mermaids will get you!"

They all burst out laughing, while Lance blubbered on, trying and failing to make them take him seriously. Finally, he gave up, plopping down next to Pidge and crossing his arms with a pout. He looked so adorably ridiculous like that, Pidge couldn't help but stifle a giggle.

Lance turned to her, annoyed. "Keep laughing, Pidgeon. They think you're crazy too."

They finally reached the shore. Lance yelled a begrudged thank you to the men who helped them before hopping onto the docks, Pidge in tow.

"Those fucking-I'll show them, I'll prove he's real. You said he hangs out with the prince at the beach right? Come on, maybe he's still there."

Pidge bit her lip and reached out to grab Lance's arm, stopping him. "Lance, I think...I feel like we should keep this a secret."

"Wh-are you joking?!" Lance snapped. "You dragged me out there during my break to prove the merman was real and got us stranded, and now you want to keep it a secret?"

"I'm sorry!" Pidge cried. "I just wanted to meet him, okay? I didn't think he'd get mad at us! He'd get even more upset if we went and told everyone!"

"Oh so that's what you're worried about? The _merman's_ feelings? What about me? I lost my boat!"

"Dude, you'll get a new boat."

"That doesn't mean I'm not upset about it!"

Lance's yelling was drawing other people's attention now. Pidge pressed her lips shut, and spoke again very softly. "Lance, listen. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen." She looked up, eyes sad and pleading, and she tugged at his sleeve for maximum begging power. "But, please, just..don't tell anyone yet. This is so important to the prince, I don't want to mess anything up."

Lance opened his mouth, probably wanting to rant at her again. But she looked so sad staring up at him like that, he didn't have the heart. Lance realized this was probably her intention-Pidge was ridiculously clever, but dammit, he couldn't resist.

"Fiiiiine," he sighed at last, earning a happy smile from Pidge. "I'll keep quiet for now. At least to make the others not think I'm insane."

"Thank you," Pidge replied, relieved. "Don't worry, I'll talk to Prince Shiro. We'll get this all sorted out."

"Whatever you say," Lance sighed. "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go get myself something to eat. I'm starved."

"You wanna come to the castle? I bet Hunk'll cook up something good."

"No thanks, I think I'd rather be by myself."

Pidge's face fell, but she nodded. "Ok, I understand. Um. See you tomorrow?"

Lance turned on his heel and waved lazily at her. "Yeah. Bye Pidge."

Finally on his own, Lance could finally breathe and relax a little. His stomach was growling and he was in no mood to walk too far, so he ended up at a tiny little place just off the docks. Lance was sitting outside, sipping on a drink while he waited for his food, and breathed in slowly.

Darn Pidge and all the wild rides she took him on. Lance was fond of her, and most days he was grateful that she was around to make his life a little less boring. But today? It was a bit much...though, he supposed it wasn't really her fault. It was because of that fucking merman (he still couldn't believe that had actually happened). What was his name? Keith? Screw Keith.

Maybe he'd wake up and find out that this was all a dream. There was no merman out there, his boat was still perfectly intact, and he wasn't currently the laughing stock of the entire dock.

Lance's food finally arrived and he finally took a breath. _Ok, Lance, just forget about everything right now, he thought. You've had a long day. Treat yourself. Eat some good food, maybe go out later and have some fun, meet a cute girl-oh hey, a cute girl._

Lance hadn't noticed before, but a young woman, with the longest red ponytail he'd ever seen, was currently leaning on a table across from him and staring at him intently. When she saw him looking she immediately turned away, giggling.

Lance felt his face go warm and he smiled goofily. A cute girl checking him out? Just what he needed to brighten his crappy day. He quickly composed himself and shot her a flirty grin. "Hi there, miss," he called. "Are you by yourself or are you waiting for someone?"

The girl looked up shyly, but smiled and began to walk over. "Oh, I'm alone for today," she replied sweetly. "I was just wandering around and found this place. Never really been to a seaside cafe before."

"Really? You from inland?"

"Yeah. Just moved here a couple days ago."

"Well, I'd be happy to show you around later if you'd like. Why don't you sit down, let me buy you a drink?"

She giggled, and took him up on his offer. Lance waved the waiter over as she sat, smoothing out her dress as she went. "Thank you."

"No problem. The name's Lance, by the way."

"Lance. Nice to meet you. You're a fisherman, right?"

"Yep."

"Oh good, then maybe you can explain," she leaned on the table eagerly. "I was walking by the docks earlier and I heard some of the fisherman yelling about something. Like...there was a merman out in the sea or something? I was so confused."

Lance hesitated, swallowing his food with a gulp. "Oh yeah, uh...I think one of the guys said he saw a merman while he was out there," he said slowly. "Everyone was just...wondering if he was telling the truth, I guess."

The girl's big blue eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, I know. Crazy guy, right? Talking about fairy tales..."

"I think it's amazing!" She chirped.

Lance blinked slowly, reaching for his drink once more. "Oh. Well, maybe he's not _entirely_ crazy. I mean, who knows..."

"Did he tell you what the merman looked like? Where did he see him?"

"Well, I only heard...uh, bits and pieces, but I'll tell you what I know."

Before Lance could continue, the waiter finally stopped by their table to take their order. Lance got a drink for the girl, and another one for himself, he deserved it.

He turned back to the girl. "By the way, I don't think you ever told me your name."

"Ezor," the girl replied with a grin. She took a sip of her drink, then, leaned forward and batted her eyelashes at him again. "Now, tell me all about this _merman_."


	6. Chapter 6: Troubled Waters

**Warning: some blood in this one.**

* * *

"So, what do you and Keith usually do, anyway?"

Shiro looked up from the table where he was writing, and shot a grin at Pidge. "You sure love to ask a lot of questions about Keith, don't you?"

Pidge traced a pattern on the table with her finger. "Well, you know, it's not every day that someone meets an actual merman. Unless it's, you know, you."

Shiro laughed. "I mean, there's not much to tell you. We just spend some time together and talk."

"Would you say that Keith is...the irritable type?"

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, a little. Why?"

Pidge wasn't looking at him. "So if he were to, say, get mad at a fisherman for some reason, and just hypothetically, would he possibly...wreck their boat?"

Shiro simply stared back at her, and narrowed his eyes before speaking. "Katie, what is this about?"

Pidge sighed and looked at the floor. "Okay, so, I actually saw him."

"You...saw Keith?"

"Yeah. Me and Lance. We were hanging out in his boat, out in the ocean, and then Lance must have said something Keith didn't like, and he got mad and destroyed the boat. It was kind of terrifying, actually."

Shiro stared back at her with his mouth open. "Oh...my god."

"Well, I mean, Lance didn't really believe Keith existed-but I did!- but Lance decided that he wasn't real and started ranting about it and I guess Keith got mad."

Shiro had a hand over his face, almost stifling a laugh. "Ok, well-is anyone hurt?"

"No."

"Alright, and...you guys aren't going to tell anyone about this, right?"

"Nope. I made Lance promise."

"Good." He stood up and ruffled her hair. "Thanks for telling me. Maybe I can take you to formally meet him at some point. And tell Lance I'll pay for his new boat."

"Will do. I'm not sure Keith really wants to see me anytime soon, but sure."

Pidge had to run off to do some work soon after, and Shiro stayed behind, looking out at the beach through the tall windows of his study. Attacking a boat to defend his honor? Yeah, that sounded like something Keith would do. At least he hasn't actually hurt anyone.

When he confronted Keith about it later, the merman didn't respond right away.

"...is that his name? Lance?" Keith muttered. "Dumb name."

Shiro frowned as Keith seemed to lean away from him. "Keith, I'm not mad," he said softly. "But you know they could have been hurt, right?"

"I was going to go help them after, but the other fishermen got to them first."

"Ok but-"

"He called you crazy!" Keith snapped. "And he said I didn't exist! It was basically a double insult!"

Shiro paused, took one look at his adorable pout, and just laughed. "Alright, alright babe." He put a comforting arm around him. "It's okay. I'm touched that you want to defend my honor, but maybe keep from destroying people's property, okay? Lance and Pidge are my friends."

"Fine. I'll do it for you."

Shiro smiled and kissed his forehead. They took a moment to just quietly stare out at the sea, holding each other, before Keith spoke up again.

"Wait...did you just call me _babe?_ "

"Um...yes?"

Keith looked incredibly confused. "Why?"

Shiro blinked. "You know...babe, baby...people say it to their significant other."

"Humans call their lover _baby?_ That's weird as hell, that's like calling your lover _son._ "

Shiro snorted with laughter, facepalming a little. "Oh come on, it's not that weird. You're telling me merfolk don't have any weird pet names for their lovers?"

"No. The worst we have is seashell."

" _Seashell?_ That would be like if I called you _rock_."

"No way, seashells actually look nice. It's better than _baby_."

As their silly banter continued, four women peaked out from behind a nearby cliff, studying the two young men closely.

"Holy _shit_ , Ezor, you were right!"

"I know right? I didn't believe it either, but it looks like my tipoff wasn't completely insane after all."

"Damn, just look at that! Just one of those scales could probably get us a fortune! Imagine what we could do with the whole tail."

"Wait. Who the heck is that with him?"

"Who, the human? I think...whoa, hang on, that looks like...that looks like the prince, doesn't it?"

"Ugh, seriously? If he gets in the way he could bring our whole operation down."

"Zethrid's right. We'll have to hold back for now. If Ezor's little date was telling the truth, this merman should be back here tomorrow. And every day after. Come on, we need to tell Lotor about this."

* * *

Allura stretched her back, trying not to show how bored and tired she was as Coran reported to her on the goings-on of the day so far. She only really had a little bit of time to herself before she had to go back to solving everyone else's problems. Such was the price of being queen at such a young age.

"Well, it seems that the food supplies are dwindling on the southern end of the kingdom," Coran read out loud. "Appears to be an overfishing problem, but it might have something to do with whispers of a workers' strike. Also, there's been reports of a couple burglaries in the northern end-one of the culprits has been caught, but the other is still at large, so we might need to send out more guards to investigate. Also, the farmers' union is coming back today, we're going to need you to make a decision on that as well."

Allura sighed and nodded.

"And finally...oh," Coran raised an eyebrow and looked closely at the paper in his hands. "Well, this is interesting."

"What is it?" Allura asked.

"There are several different reports that folk are seeing someone swim up to the surface."

This caught Allura's attention. "Who? Nobody's supposed to go up there, it's dangerous."

"I'm not sure," Coran looked up at her. "Apparently, it's always sighted from a far distance. Definitely a merfolk, but nobody can make out who it is. And even stranger-all of the reports seem to point to it happening around the same time each day."

Allura sat up. "That doesn't make any sense. Who could possibly swim all the way up to the surface _every day?_ That's quite a long journey, and for what?" She frowned in deep concern and lean over to Coran. "Keep reading."

Coran scanned the paper. "Well, let's see. One report from last Farunsday, three from just a couple days ago, and...someone named Merla says she's been checking for a few days, and yes, there's definitely someone. And every time, it's around the sixth varga after the mindum...and they are seen returning one varga later each time."

Allura blinked slowly, a sick feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. Sixth and seventh varga...that sounded a whole lot like the time Keith was usually gone. But it couldn't be. Keith knew how dangerous it was to go up to the surface. He was a troublemaker, but he wasn't an idiot, right?

"Thank you Coran," Allura finally said. "Tell anyone who has any more information about this to report it immediately. We don't want anyone getting hurt. That will do for now."

Coran looked at her in concern for a moment, before he gave a small bow. "Yes, my queen," he murmured, backing quietly out of the room.

Now alone, Allura gripped the armrests of her chair tightly and took a deep breath. This was supposed to be her time to relax, but obviously that wasn't going to happen. She pulled herself out of her seat and started heading toward Keith's room, anger and fear bubbling in her chest. She only hoped that her suspicions were false, or else that brother of hers would never be allowed to leave the castle again.

She found Keith lying down on his bed, tailfins floating idly in the water. He seemed to be pretty zoned out, staring up at the ceiling with a tiny smile on his face. Allura bit her lip a little before approaching.

"Keith," she began nonchalantly, snapping the other out of his apparent trance. "You're back already?"

"Oh, yeah," he replied, sitting up.

"How was your date?"

Keith hesitated. "It was...fine."

"Everything going well?"

"Sure."

Allura nodded slowly. "I'm glad," she said. "So, when do I get to meet this nice young man for myself?"

Keith seemed to stiffen, and Allura watched him closely. His eyes darted across the floor before he shrugged and spoke again, "I mean...I don't know. We might not really get to that level."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's a nice guy, but...I don't know, I'm thinking that it might not work out."

Allura squinted at him suspiciously, but continued playing along. "Oh dear, what happened?"

"I dunno, it's just not as nice as it used to be. Infatuation wearing off, I guess. Kinda sucks, but oh well." He quickly got off his bed and tried to swim past her. "Anyway, I kinda wanna go for a swim, see you later sis."

She didn't let him get far. " _Keith_ ," she snapped. "There have been reports that someone's been swimming to the surface. Around the same time you always leave." She paused, watching him stiffen up yet again and feeling more nauseated by the second. "Is there...something you'd like to tell me about this boyfriend of yours?"

Keith immediately turned to glare at her. "Wh-you think it's me? You think I'm swimming up there to meet a guy? No way, Allura, come on!" He crossed his arms and turned away again. "I'm not dumb enough to break your favorite law."

Allura clenched her fists. "Favorite law?" She repeated. "You think I made that law because I _wanted_ to?"

"Well, I mean, you seem awful attached to that dumb rule," Keith snapped. "You don't care as much about folk getting robbed as you do about someone swimming up there a little bit!"

"Keith, the law is in place to keep everyone safe."

"From _what_? What is your problem, why is it so bad to leave? What is wrong with humans, exactly?"

"You know _exactly_ what's wrong with them!"

"You met _one_ awful human, Allura!" Keith shouted back, glaring at her more intensely this time. "How do you know there aren't any good ones? How do you know if-"

" _Enough_ , Keith!" She swam closer and straightened herself, pointing an accusatory finger at his face. "Have you, or have you not been swimming to the surface?"

Keith stared back at her for a moment, shocked and angry, before clenching his jaw. " _No_ , I haven't."

He was staring her directly in the eye, and Allura lowered her finger, holding his gaze. After another tense moment, Allura merely turned away from him and swam off without a word.

She looked back a little as she went, only to see Keith run both his hands through his hair and breathe out a long sigh.

He didn't understand. He was going to do something incredibly dumb, and she had to protect him. She hated to betray his trust, but it seemed like she'd have to send someone to watch him from afar on his "dates," for his own safety.

* * *

Keith took extra caution the next day to take a different route up to the surface. He still wanted to smack himself in the face for what had happened with Allura, but it's not like he had much of a choice. If Allura was to find out about Shiro, he'd rather it not happen when she was spewing in all the anger and hatred she'd built up toward the human species. Of course, that seemed to be pretty much impossible, and Keith wasn't sure how much longer he could manage being tangled up in this little web of lies.

As usual, he ended up getting to the beach a little earlier than Shiro, and took the time to just lay down on their favorite rock and try to relax. Shiro would be here soon...that would be what he needs to de-stress. He breathed in the seaside air. Everything would be okay.

He didn't even see it coming.

His body reacted before his mind even registered what had happened. It was a sudden burst of pain in his tail, followed by an involuntary scream and panicked spazzing as he fell onto the beach. Keith sat up as much as he could, and stared in horror when he realized that an arrow of some kind was lodged in his tail, just below the hip, blood already gushing onto the sand. Keith's breath caught in his throat as he looked around to find the culprit, but saw nothing. He had to get out of here.

When he tried to turn back toward the water, he found that he couldn't move much with that stupid arrow stuck in his tail. Pulling it out was out of the question, so he'd just have to suck it up until he made it far away from the beach.

Next thing he knew, from somewhere above him, there was a net.

Keith nearly yelped in panic as it somehow tightened around him and started dragging him into the water. Somehow it seemed that all his thrashing and struggling was making the situation worse, tangling the net around him even more. This was like something out of a nightmare, but a nightmare wouldn't hurt this much.

Mind racing, Keith did the first thing he thought of and swam against the pull, back toward the beach. He hadn't been pulled too far yet, so he was able to pull himself back onto the beach, desperately grasping onto the sand as much as he could and ignoring the burns he was currently getting from the net.

The sand was slipping through his fingers, and Keith was starting to panic again, when suddenly another pair of hands grabbed onto him, drawing him close.

"Shiro?"

"Hang on Keith, I'm gonna get you out-"

The net gave a jolt and Shiro lost his footing, quickly being dragged into the water right after Keith. Somehow, he managed to maintain his grip, and Keith desperately held onto him as well. The injury in his tail was stinging painfully and the motion was nauseatingly quick. Keith tried not to think too hard about where they could be headed, and instead just focused on holding onto Shiro as tightly as he could.

Shiro hadn't even had time to think when he saw what was happening on the beach-seeing Keith captured and struggling and bleeding had set off alarms in his head and he had just jumped right at him without thinking. He couldn't even see who was behind the capture, all he knew was that he had to get Keith out of there. And now, here they were, being dragged through the ocean to who knows where. This was one of the only times that Shiro regretted not bringing anyone with him.

Keith was gripping tightly onto his arms, and Shiro had his eyes shut tightly, unable to breathe until they surfaced. Once the net was pulled out of the water, Shiro despaired at noticing that they were already pretty far away from the beach. Turning his head back upward, he realized that the mechanism pulling them was connected to a rather large ship-making Shiro gulp. There would probably be a lot of nasty people on this ship, and he wasn't sure he could take them all on alone.

But then he took another look at Keith's terrified face, and knew he had to.

The machine finally stopped as soon as the net was floating over the deck. Shiro took a quick survey, and oddly enough, nobody seemed to be around as far as he could see. After a short moment of thinking, he hopped onto the boat.

"Where are you going?" Keith whispered.

Shiro gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm going to go see if I can get this boat off course. I might be able to get us back to shore."

"Wait, I-don't leave."

Shiro gulped and stared at him intensely through the net. "Keith, don't worry, I'm going to save you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise."

Just as he finished speaking, the machine jerked again, and Keith was pulled out onto the middle of the deck. Shiro ducked behind a wall, just enough to be hidden but still be able to see what was happening.

Finally, three young fierce looking women appeared out of the shadows and approached the helpless Keith with smug grins.

"See?" one of them, a perky looking redhead, said. "I told you it would work."

"Successful capture without getting our hands dirty," replied another. "Nice work, Ezor."

The third woman just nodded silently.

Keith hissed, glaring at them through the net. "Who the hell are you people?" He demanded. "What do you want from me?!"

The serious woman glared at him and held up what looked like a crossbow. "Shut your mouth, unless you want one of these in your face."

"Aw, he's so pretty," Ezor said, seemingly unbothered by all of this like the twisted bitch she probably was. "It's such a shame."

At that moment, Shiro heard a door open somewhere nearby, and the women all straightened. A man soon stepped into Shiro's field of vision. He was tall, with strangely long white hair and a commanding presence. Definitely not what Shiro expected the boss of this operation to look like, but still sickening to look at nonetheless.

"Lotor," the serious lady greeted simply. "The capture was successful."

"Excellent, I expected nothing less," Lotor stepped toward Keith, reaching out with a disgusting smile on his face. "Gorgeous," he muttered. "Are you sure there aren't any more like it?"

"No, not this time," Ezor replied sadly. "But I bet we'd find a ton more if we just searched a little deeper."

"You're going to regret this," Keith spoke up again, sounding as intimidating as possible. "I'm a prince. I could call an entire army to help me right now, you won't stand a chance!"

Lotor laughed, loud and boisterous. "Oh, really? Well, then, let's see it."

In response, Keith started struggling for a few more moments before giving up, and Lotor continued to chuckle.

"I almost feel bad for you," Lotor told him. "But either way, it doesn't matter. Whatever army you might have won't be able to save you in time. We're going to take that pretty tail of yours, and make a fortune off of it." As he spoke, his eyes wandered over to the lower half of Keith, and suddenly his smile disappeared. "What is this? Why is there an arrow in its tail?"

At this, the serious lady shifted nervously. "We needed to cripple him, sir," she replied. "So that he couldn't get out of the net."

"Then you should have shot him in the chest, _Acxa_ ," Lotor snapped. "How are we supposed to sell this thing if it's damaged?"

At this point, Lotor turned and, without any hesitation, forcibly _yanked_ the arrow out of Keith's tail, making the merman scream in agony.

Shiro immediately felt the desire to vomit. He couldn't watch this anymore, he had to find a way to stop them. He turned from where he was and headed toward the front of the ship, hoping he could at least steer them off course before Lotor and his girls noticed him.

Unfortunately, he had no such luck, as he quickly bumped into a fourth woman-this one much larger than the other three.

Next thing Shiro knew he was being thrown onto the deck at Lotor's feet. For extra measure, the large lady also stepped on his hand, keeping him in place. "Looks like this expensive little barnacle attached itself to our net," she growled.

Lotor frowned at Acxa. "I thought you said he wasn't going to get involved."

Acxa and Ezor simply looked downward in shame, and Shiro just glared up at them while trying to free his hand. "Your little poaching operation is sunk, Lotor," he spat. "I'm going to ruin you for this, mark my words, you'd better let Keith go-!"

Lotor just rolled his eyes and motioned to the larger lady.

Before Shiro could even see what was happening, the lady had smacked him on the head with something hard, and Shiro blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7: Tidal Wave

The lone guard burst through through the door to Allura's room, startling the girl out of her concentration.

"Your highness," he gasped. "You were right. Prince Keith went to the surface-he's been captured by poachers. There was nothing I could do alone."

Allura felt her stomach drop when she heard him spill the news. No, this couldn't be happening. Not again.

Coran immediately jumped into action, grabbing Allura's arm. "Oh, this is terrible! Allura, what should we do?"

Allura gulped, her heart rapidly pounding. "W-we need to send up...the rest of the guards. The humans won't stand a chance against the royal army."

"But...your highness," Coran spoke slowly. "We don't know how many of them there are. If we cause a huge fight, more merfolk might be captured."

"We have to save Keith!" Allura protested.

"I know," Coran replied thoughtfully. "And we will. But we can't just jump right into it."

Allura looked downward and thought for a moment. "Wait...I have an idea." She turned to Coran with a stern expression. "Coran, we have an incredibly powerful weapon at our disposal. It's sitting right underneath the castle."

Coran's eyes widened. "You don't mean-?"

Allura was already swimming away. "What other choice to we have? We don't have any time! Quickly, I'm going to need help opening the magic seal."

Coran quickly followed her, as did a few other guards. "But-your highness, Malfun's magic hasn't been used in hundreds of years. It's incredibly powerful, are you sure you can handle it?"

"Yes," Allura answered. "I _have_ to."

* * *

When Shiro finally woke up, his head was ringing, and he was tossed on the hard floor of the ship, hands tied up to a pole behind him. It took him a moment to remember where he was and what was going on.

 _Keith_. He suddenly realized, immense fear rushing through his system once again. _They're going to kill him-I have to get him out of here._

Shiro started struggling against the rope, scratching up his wrists but otherwise making no progress. He took a deep breath, calming himself down, and tried to think. Slowly wiggling his wrists, he opened his hands in an attempt to make things easier, and that's when he noticed all the broken glass on the ground. Apparently his captors thought it was a bright idea to toss him where all the trash and broken stuff was. Probably an insult, but it actually did him a favor. Reaching out with his foot he managed to drag a particularly large glass share over to where he was seated. His hands were tied up above him, but through persistence and probably a dislocated shoulder, he managed to bring his arms down behind his back.

After several more minutes of struggling and stretching his body beyond his normal limits, Shiro was able to untie himself, cutting through the ropes with the glass. He took a moment to breathe, rubbing his bloodied hands and trying to soothe the aches. He couldn't stay here for long though. Who knows what awful things they could be doing to Keith right now.

He only hoped it wasn't too late.

Shiro stood up slowly, stepping as silently as he could toward the door and picking up some of the larger glass shards, just in case. There were some more poachers walking around the deck, yelling things to each other, and he'd have to take care not to be seen. He remained in the shadows.

It was even harder considering that he had no idea where to look. Where would poachers keep a merman they'd just snatched up? Maybe below deck?

By some trick of fate, Shiro managed to get down the stairs without being spotted. It was darker and easier to sneak about here, and there were far less people. It didn't take long for him to spot the one door with a person leaning next to it. A guard? That looked like the right place.

Shiro looked briefly down at the glass in his hand but decided against it. The guard would just scream and attract attention. There had to be another way to get past him.

The boat gave a lurch, and that gave Shiro an idea. He darted off to his left toward a rather large stack of tied-down crates. Quietly as he could, he cut through the ropes holding them down and waited for the next wave to hit. When the boat lurched again, the crates all tumbled forward, scattering all over the lower deck.

"Son of a bitch-!" The guard helped in surprise. "Fucking-I knew those assholes didn't tie them down well enough!"

He continued grumbling and cursing under his breath and he leaned off the wall and started kicking the crates back into place. Now that he wasn't so close to the door, Shiro took the opportunity to sneak behind him and duck into the dark room.

Shiro's eyes adjusted to the low lighting, and just as he suspected, Keith was there. The net was hanging from the room's ceiling and Keith was laying inside, body scratched, wrist tied and mouth gagged, with a bloody and hastily attached napkin on his tail wound.

He wasn't moving, and Shiro felt his heart jump into his throat as he quickly closed the gap between them.

"Keith," he whispered shakily, grabbing onto the net. "Keith, baby, wake up, come on. It's me."

Much to his relief, Keith stirred at his voice and slowly opened his eyes. A weak, muffled noise escaped from him when he saw Shiro, eyes seeming to focus on him in desperation.

Shiro exhaled and reached into the net to cradle his face. "It's okay, don't worry. I'm gonna get you out of here." With a determined expression, he used the glass share he'd collected to cut through the net, sending Keith tumbling into his arms. He then freed Keith's wrist and mouth and took a moment to look him over. "Are you okay? What did they do?"

Keith was paler now, he could tell, and seemed to be struggling to keep himself focused. The blood loss must have heavily affected him. "Th-they...tied me up and brought me here...s-said they'd take me to someone who'd...cut my tail off..."

"That's not going to happen," Shiro said firmly. "Come on, let's get you back on deck. If I toss you overboard, would you be able to swim away?"

"I don't think so..."

Shiro bit his lip. "Ok. We'll figure something out. Come on."

Shiro picked up Keith and held him close, whispering to him to keep him awake. Somehow, they made it back to the top deck without being caught, but when Shiro looked out over the edge of the ship, he hesitated. How were they supposed to escape when they were so far out at sea already? Keith couldn't swim. He couldn't carry him back...maybe he could go back to his original plan and try to sneak onto the bridge to steer the boat off course.

Shiro took a breath and turned around...right into Acxa's crossbow.

He froze, zeroing in on the arrow pointed at his nose, and then on the woman holding it. She looked almost bored, as if she would shoot Shiro's brains out without even flinching if he made a wrong move.

"I told you he'd get out, Ezor," Acxa muttered, not taking her eyes off Shiro. "You shouldn't trust anything to those bozos."

Ezor made a noise between a scoff and a whine, and Shiro slowly backed into the rim of the boat. It wasn't long before the rest of their posse joined them, surrounding the two young men with the same half-bored expressions.

"Congratulations on getting this far," Lotor began with a bemused grin. "You're a lot more resilient than I expected, your highness."

"Lotor," Shiro's voice was hoarse but he kept hit level, maintaining eye contact. "This is pointless. Your poaching ring isn't going to last now that I'm here. Let us go, and your punishment may not be as harsh."

Lotor rolled his eyes. "You're in no position to be bargaining, fish-fucker," he sneered. "But, if you want to make a deal, I have an offer for you: we can take you home, back to your fancy palace and servants, unharmed...in exchange for the merman."

Shiro felt Keith shift in his arms but he didn't give in. Slowly, he placed Keith on the deck and stepped over him, standing between Keith and the poachers protectively. He knew this was stupid and the odds were against him, but if he had to fight every single one of these guys to protect Keith, he would. All he had was a couple bits of broken glass and his fists, but that would have to do.

Lotor's smile had disappeared as he looked Shiro up and down. "One more chance," he growled.

Shiro didn't move.

"Shoot him, Acxa."

"No-!" Keith cried, prying himself off the ground and reaching out to grab Shiro's foot.

Shiro barely managed to duck out of the way as the arrow whizzed past his cheek, and took the moment to jump at Acxa, cutting her face with the glass and making her jump back. Lotor finally broke out of his neutral position, surprising Shiro by grabbing his shirt and slamming him down onto the deck. The ladies made sure he stayed down, and Lotor now had his foot on Shiro's head.

"You're annoying," Lotor muttered, somehow managing to regain his poised demeanor. "You should have just stayed in your castle."

"Uhh...Lotor?" Ezor suddenly piped up. "Lotor, the water is...glowing!"

Lotor narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you talking about?"

Shiro managed to turn his head up toward the water. Keith and Ezor were both leaning over the edge, their faces invisible and a bright blue glow emanated from the water below. What the hell was going on?

Before anyone could get over their surprise and move, the ship suddenly started to lurch violently. Everyone was thrown off balance, and Shiro managed to free himself and attempt to crawl back toward Keith. Then, without warning, an enormous tidal wave appeared, and sitting on top was a mermaid.

Her hair was white and flying wildly in the wind, eyes glowing the same blue color as the water below her. It was pretty obvious that she was using some sort of magic to move the water, and it didn't look like she was going to hold back.

Shiro had a pretty good idea of who this was, and if he didn't do something quick, she'd drown him along with the poachers. As Lotor and his general scrambled to take her down, Shiro tried and failed to reach Keith.

Queen Allura used her waves to tear a hole in the side of the boat, swooping down to catch Keith before he fell. Shiro grabbed onto the railing and stopped, gawking up at the sight as Keith was taken farther away by his sister.

Meanwhile, Keith was still struggling to make sense of what was going on, weakly flopping in Allura's arms as she carried him away. There was no doubt, this was Malfun's magic, the same magic that he'd heard about in _legends_. This stuff had the power to end wars, and yet here she was, using it to sink one ship just to save his life.

"Allura-!" He choked. "Allura, wait, don't do it, Shiro's still on the boat-!"

Allura, of course, didn't listen, not with the magic and the blind thirst for revenge running through her body. Before Keith could convince her otherwise, she sent her giant tidal wave crashing into the ship, destroying it almost immediately. Keith felt his already strong nausea get even worse at the sight, struggling to keep his breath even.

Allura wasted no time. Immediately after the shipwreck, she turned and dove into the ocean, rapidly swimming away from the sinking wreckage. Keith desperately reached his arms out toward the sight, heart sinking along with the ship.

Eventually, Allura slowed to a stop where Coran and several other servants were waiting for her. "Quickly!" She shouted. "He's lost a lot of blood, get him to the emergency clinic now!"

"Allura, wait!" Keith grabbed her arm before she could hand him off to Coran. "Don't...the boat...Shiro was on the boat..."

Allura shot him a seething glare. "You mean your _human_ boyfriend?" she spat. "The one who got you nearly murdered?! I don't care what happens to him, Keith!"

"No, you don't get it!" Keith struggled with what little strength he had against Coran trying to pull him away. "H-he was trying to get me out of there-Allura, you have to go back and save him!"

"No. Let's go, Coran."

 _"I'm not going anywhere until you save him!"_ Keith thrashed about in Coran's arms, trying to break free in the direction of the sinking ship. He still had some life left in him, and if he had to use it up to make sure Shiro was safe, so be it.

"Alright!" Allura snapped, a desperate edge in her voice. "Fine! I will save him! I'll take him to the shore! Stop moving, please, you're making it worse!"

At this, Keith finally stopped thrashing. "Th-thank you, Allura-he's the one with the metal arm and the scar on his face, please hurry!"

Allura nodded and shook out of his grip, swimming quickly back toward the wreckage. Keith watched her go, limply being dragged along by Coran, as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

* * *

Shiro couldn't tell which was was up or down after the wave hit. He knew he was underwater, and that the large debris of the ship was pushing him down further. He just had to keep his head on him, somehow swim away from the wreckage and get himself back up to the surface.

He was running out of breath, not helped by the fact that his anxious heart was pumping away. He wanted to inhale so badly, his vision was going dark, and he wasn't making any progress-

All of a sudden, a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist, and next thing Shiro knew he'd surfaced, coughing and sputtering as he tried to catch his breath. "Hold on tight," his rescuer instructed, "And hold your breath,"

Shiro barely had time to respond as the mermaid took him underwater once more. This time they were swimming at a seemingly impossible speed in a direction Shiro wasn't sure of.

Before long, they were back at the beach. Allura practically tossed him onto the sand, leaving him coughing again, before turning to leave.

"Wait-!" He finally choked out, turning himself back toward the ocean. "Allura!"

The mermaid stiffened at the sound of her name, and turned back to glare at him.

He ignored it. "Keith," he gasped "Wh-is he going to be okay?"

Allura's expression was illegible as she stared him down. "I don't know," she growled at last. "He was practically a ragdoll when I picked him up-none of this would have happened if he wasn't always coming here to see you."

Shiro felt sick, and Allura paid him no further attention. As suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone, and Shiro was alone.

He didn't stand up, instead staring down at the ground in shock. Allura's words stung. He was terrified. What was going to happen to Keith?

It was late. Shiro's friends quickly found him laying on the beach, and he didn't resist when they dragged him home.


	8. Chapter 8: Illuminate

Nobody saw Shiro smile for nearly two months.

The aftermath of the incident was slow and painful, but somehow felt like a blur at the same time. The palace nurses took care of his injuries and made sure he stayed in bed until he recovered. Investigations and panic about the poachers who hurt him began and ended before anyone could find them. Whispers of mermen and mermaids were rampant in the area. Many people were debating if there was truth to it, or whether their dear prince had officially lost his mind. Shiro's four friends were the only ones who believed his story.

But he didn't care. Shiro didn't care about any of this beyond what he had to. He didn't care that his dad had sent him an angry letter threatening to disown him if he didn't stop spouting fantasies about mermen and ruining the family image. He didn't care. He couldn't even bring himself to be angry at Lance and Pidge, who felt responsible for the whole thing-it wasn't even their fault, as far as Shiro was concerned. It was his fault. He was responsible for putting Keith in danger. He should have never returned to that beach, he should have never allowed himself to fall so far. The whole thing had been doomed from the start.

But Keith...was he even still alive?

Allura's words still haunted Shiro, along with the image of Keith, weak and barely able to move. He had absolutely no way of knowing if Keith had made it, and that was driving him crazy.

If he was alive, he probably wouldn't be back. And that was probably for the better. But Shiro just didn't know, and he _had_ to.

So Shiro returned to the beach. And he kept returning, every day, just as he used to. A tiny part of him hoped to catch a glimpse of him, splashing around in the water or laying on the rock. It was crazy.

Shiro was sitting at the very back of the beach, leaning against a mass of rock. He was hunched forward, arms crossed on his knees, staring blankly at the water. The wind was playing with his hair, contrasting with the rest of his unmoving body.

Pidge was sitting next to him in a similar position, though much more fidgety. She kept looking back and forth between Shiro and the sea, not knowing what to say.

Shiro spoke first. "You don't have to sit here with me, Pidge."

His voice was quiet and hoarse, so different from how he usually sounded that it made Pidge's heart sink. "I want to," was all she managed to say.

Shiro didn't argue. He just continued staring forward.

"I...should have just waited for you to introduce me to him yourself," Pidge mourned. "Instead of just going with Lance to find him." She looked up at Shiro, who remained motionless, and frowned sadly. "Hey Prince Shiro...do you need a hug?"

"If you think it will help," Shiro monotoned. Pidge took that as a yes, scooting closer to wrap her arms around him, squeezing him as tightly and comfortingly as he could.

The physical contact warmed up the cold feeling inside of him and Shiro began to feel choked up. "I-I-we should go. He's not coming today." He put his head down and hastily got up to leave. He couldn't cry in front of Pidge. He shouldn't have let her stay, he shouldn't have even come here in the first place, what was the point?

Pidge trotted to keep up with him, saying nothing on their way back. Shiro made it back to the palace, going straight to his bedroom before he broke down in front of everyone.

"H-hey, Prince Shiro," Hunk called out to him. "Guess what? I made your favorite pasta for lunch! It's fresh and ready to eat if you want it!"

"Thanks, I'll eat it later," Shiro replied quickly and then disappeared into his room.

Pidge stopped to catch her breath and exchanged a worried glance with Hunk, who sighed tiredly.

Later that afternoon, Pidge, Hunk, and Matt went down to the docks to meet up with Lance, all of them with solemn expressions on their faces.

"He's barely been eating and almost never leaves his room," Matt was telling them. "I haven't seen him like this in years, I'm a bit freaked out."

"There's gotta be something we can do to help him," Pidge mused.

"Maybe you two-" Lance pointed to Matt and Pidge. "-could make some kind of device to talk to the merfolk."

Matt frowned at him. "You say that as if it wouldn't take years to develop something like that."

Lance looked down. "Hey, I'm just spitballing,"

"At the very least, I wish we had some way of checking on Keith," Pidge said. "I feel like if Prince Shiro knew that Keith was okay, he'd feel much better."

"And what if he's not okay?" Hunk piped up. "What if he's dead? What would we do then?"

"Don't say that!" Pidge snapped.

"Yeah, one thing at a time, man," sighed Lance.

"He just needs time," Matt told them. "All we can really do is be there for him."

All four of them nodded solemnly, and Pidge stared sadly at the ground. Nobody said anything else, they simply shared the silent resolve, before eventually separating to go back to their lives.

It was dark. Shiro was floating in something...water? But he found that he could breathe just fine. Where was he?

The shipwreck. It was sinking around him, slowly. Countless pieces of wood and debris surrounded him, flowing down but not hitting him at all. There was something else. A body. Not a human one. Pierced everywhere with arrows and filling the already murky water around them with blood.

"Keith," Shiro found himself whispering. " _Keith_!"

Shiro was moving too slowly. The water suddenly felt like thick molasses, pulling back against his movement while the merman sunk further down. Shiro desperately pushed against the waves, but to no avail. Keith was dying, falling farther away, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Keith! Keith, _no_!"

Shiro awoke in his bed, heart pounding, breathing heavily. Just a nightmare. He gripped the covers around him tightly, staring upward as his vision misted over. He hadn't had any nightmares about this as of yet-mostly because he hadn't gotten much sleep.

Shiro wiped the tears off of his face and turned to his side, shutting his eyes tightly. He didn't know how long he'd have to deal with this, he thought that it would hurt less after a while. But it only hurt more. He wanted to see Keith, he wanted to see him so, _so_ badly.

Hunk practically shoved a plate of salmon into Shiro's hands the next morning, insisting to hover over him until he ate at least half of it. It was delicious, of course, but Shiro barely tasted it.

He went back to the beach. What else could he do at this point? He'd probably be doing this for the rest of his life.

...and then, a splash.

Shiro stared at the sand, hesitating only momentarily.

"Shiro!"

He froze, scared to look and realize that there was nothing there. Trembling, he slowly turned toward the sound of the achingly familiar voice.

Keith was in the water, looking like he'd just surfaced. When he caught Shiro's eye, he smiled widely and hoisted himself back up on the rock. He was exactly the same as before, energetic and beautiful. He spoke quietly. "You're here."

Shiro was shaking, unsure if he was still dreaming. He hesitantly stepped forward, reaching out a hand to gently touch Keith's face, just to make sure he was real. Keith smiled up at him, leaning into the touch.

It all came in like a rush, like a bright light had just illuminated a dark room. Emotion flooded through him and he surged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around the merman and sending them both falling into the water. "Keith," he choked. "Keith, you're here. You're _alive_."

"Yeah," Keith whispered as he hugged back. "I'm here, Shiro."

If he was dreaming right now, he wished to stay asleep forever.


	9. Chapter 9: Goodbye

Keith had been absolutely restless since he woke up. If it wasn't for his own physical weakness and Allura holding him back, he would have gone back to see Shiro the second he was released from the hospital. Allura convinced him to stay behind and recover for a month or two, but it wasn't easy, and the amount of arguing between them had skyrocketed.

"Ok, so you've found out my dirty secret, whoop-de-do," Keith would sulk from his bed. "I'm dating a human-a _good_ human who risked his life to save me. How terrible of him."

Allura would huff, failing to hold onto her patience. "Keith, I _understand_ that not every human is going to be garbage. But you've seen what happens when too many of them find out about us. There will definitely be more poachers out there, you can't go back and risk them finding you."

"Then I'll just go meet him somewhere more private."

" _Why_ is it so hard for you to just _listen?_ " Allura would finally snap. "Is nearly dying not enough? I almost lost you, Keith, I don't want it to happen for real!"

Keith would glare at her, turn around, and pretend to fall asleep.

And now that he finally had a moment to himself, he took it to swim to the surface as fast as he could.

"Where are you going?"

Crap. Keith stopped, only to give Allura an annoyed look, and didn't reply.

Allura had her arms folded across her chest, and a cold expression on her face. "There's really no reasoning with you, is there?"

"You can't stop me, Allura," Keith snapped. "I'm going to see Shiro. He needs to know I'm okay."

"How do you know he's even going to be there? You haven't shown up to see him in months."

Keith bit his lip. She had a point, but that wasn't going to stop him now. "I have to try."

Allura paused, closed her eyes for a moment, and swam closer. "Coran and I are coming with you."

Keith blinked, scoffed, and turned around to continue swimming. "I thought you wanted to stay away from the big scary humans."

Allura gestured to Coran and followed him. "I'd like to have a talk with this _Shiro_ of yours."

Keith frowned, but remained silent and sped up.

When they got closer to the surface, Allura faltered and stopped. Keith stared down at her, almost feeling bad, then turned to finally lift his head out of the water. His eyes darted around, hoping that Allura hadn't been right before. Did Shiro really stopped coming? Had he given up on him after not seeing him for two months?

...Wait, no.

He was almost unrecognizable with his hunched over posture and gray, emotionless face staring at the ground. But he was there. Shiro was back, at their usual time, as if nothing had happened.

Without even thinking, Keith surged out of the water and onto the rock, calling out to him. Shiro stopped, looking at him like he was seeing a ghost, and soon Keith found himself back in the water when Shiro tackled him in a tight, almost desperate embrace.

"You're here. You're _alive."_

"Yeah. I'm here, Shiro."

Shiro took a shaky breath and buried his face in Keith's neck, holding on so tightly as if he was afraid that he'd disappear any second. Keith wasn't doing anything different. "God, I missed you," Shiro whispered. "I was so worried, I thought...you weren't coming back."

Keith smiled, forgetting what he was even worried about before. "Oh, come on, Shiro, do you have so little faith in me?"

Shiro laughed, pulling back just slightly to look at him straight on. "You're right, I should've known better."

"I'm so sorry, they kept me behind because I had to recover and-"

"It's okay," Shiro interrupted. "I-I'm just so happy you're safe." He held Keith's face tightly, as Keith reached up to wipe the tears from Shiro's eyes. Shiro surged forward for a kiss, and Keith eagerly met him halfway. Neither of them let go of each other for several minutes.

It was Allura who finally broke them out of their trance. She cleared her throat, loudly, and Keith suddenly remembered what had been bugging him before. Shiro pulled away to look at her, and Keith just tightened his grip.

"Shiro..." she began carefully. "It is Shiro, right?"

Shiro slowly pulled away from Keith to give Allura a proper greeting. "Uh, yes. Queen Allura, it's...great to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

Keith gripped Shiro's arm tightly.

"Yes, I figured," Allura glanced over at Keith, rising only minimally out of the water to maintain her poise. "I...hate to be the person to tell you this. I know that you're a good person, Shiro. But you and I both know that Keith being here isn't safe."

"Don't listen to her," Keith whispered to Shiro. "She's trying to keep us from seeing each other again."

Shiro said nothing.

"I don't _want_ to come between the two of you," Allura continued. "I want nothing more than for Keith to be happy with someone. But you've seen..." she paused, as if wondering how to go on. "You understand...what I mean, don't you?" Her voice was softer now, more pleading. "If you care about him as much as he says you do, please, make him understand. He never listens to me."

"Shut up, Allura!" Keith snapped. "He doesn't need to listen to you, leave us alone!"

Allura ignored him, instead just staring at Shiro expectantly.

Shiro just sighed and nodded. He stood, picking Keith up to place him on the rock, and looked him in the eye. "Keith, I...I know you don't want me to say this, but she's right."

The look of betrayal on Keith's face was almost too much for Shiro to bear. "What?" the merman asked quietly.

"Listen, I'm happy to see you again," Shiro replied quickly. "I really am, and I want us to keep doing this forever if we could, but..." he paused, eyes trailing down to the big, prominent scar on Keith's tail. He gulped. "People have heard. There's a lot of whispers, it's only a matter of time before people start coming to this beach to look for merfolk, and some of them could be just as bad as the ones from before."

"So we'll hide!" Keith insisted. "We'll just find somewhere else to meet up, I don't care if folk know about me, they won't _find_ me again-"

"Keith," Shiro interrupted, squeezing his hands tightly. "It's just too risky, I can't let you put yourself in danger for me again." He paused to push back the tears that were already forming. "I could _never_ live with myself if you got hurt again."

Keith was quiet, looking down at the water splashing around Shiro's feet. Shiro had no idea what he could be thinking, until he heard a sniffle. "I-I just...don't want to leave you."

"Oh, Keith," Shiro whispered, lifting the merman's chin.

"You mean a lot to me, okay?" Keith continued. "You're life the only person outside the palace who's ever _wanted_ me around."

Shiro felt his bottom lip quiver. God he didn't want to do this, even if he knew it was for the best. But Keith's safety was the most important thing to him right now. "Keith," he said again. "Listen, you've got your family...and I know one of those days you'll find someone. You're amazing, okay? The most amazing person I've ever met, and there's going to be _someone_ down there who'll know it as much as I do, and they'll make you happier than I ever could-"

"That's not the _same!"_

"It'll be better," Shiro countered, though his heart wasn't in it. "You'll be able to go more places with them, do whatever you want, not have to worry about being hurt..." he trailed off, noticing that the other was no longer looking at him. "Keith, please don't be mad at me," he pleaded. "I'm only saying this because I love you."

This broke him. Keith let out that sob he'd been holding and buried his face in Shiro's neck. "I love you too," he blubbered. "I love you _so_ much. I don't want to go, I hate this."

Shiro hugged him back, squeezing as hard as he could for as long as he could. Allura was watching them, trying not the cry herself. She took a shaky breath and turned to Coran. "I have to go back," she murmured to him. "Make sure Keith gets home safely."

"Yes, my queen," Coran replied politely. Allura disappeared underwater again, and Coran swam a bit further out to give Keith and Shiro some space, while he continued to watch.

Shiro and Keith held each other tightly, alternating between sobs, goodbyes, and reassuring words. Eventually, though it hurt like hell, Shiro pulled away first. "Promise me," he whispered. "That you'll take care of yourself. Okay, Keith?"

"I promise," Keith finally conceded. "I'm going to miss you though."

"I'll miss you too. But I'm so glad I met you, Keith. Here-" he reached back and pulled off the chain he was wearing around his neck, something he'd gotten from his family, but had absolutely no problem giving away, and gave it to Keith. "Keep this. Something to remember me by."

Keith grasped it tightly before putting it around his own neck.

Shiro took a deep breath. This was it. He had to do it. He took Keith's hand and squeezed it, leaned in to give him one more kiss, and then stepped back. "Bye, Keith."

Their hands were still connected. Shiro summoned all the strength he had...and let go. He turned and started walking away before he could be pulled back, and stumbled up to the cliff. He looked back, and Keith was still staring after him from the rock, eyes big and full of grief. Shiro gulped and continued walking away, until he was finally able to turn a corner.

He stopped, taking several heavy breaths, and waited. He heard the splash, and then Keith was gone.


	10. Chapter 10: Return

Just as she had suspected, Keith listened to Shiro. Allura supposed she should be annoyed-Keith respecting the wishes of the guy he'd just met recently over his own sister-but at least he was finally convinced to stay underwater.

She couldn't say that she was satisfied though.

Keith was sulking more than usual, which wasn't surprising, but she hated to see it. The fact that Keith needed to keep his relationship secret from her, the fact that he felt she was the one holding him back from happiness...it stung. And it didn't help that he was right, in a way. But, it wasn't her fault! He could have just gone out to see a nice merman, she wouldn't have minded that!

But what worried her more was that Keith didn't seem to be bouncing back. Of course she expected him to be upset, but eventually he had to move on. It had already been weeks since he'd split with Shiro, but all he'd been doing since then was sulking in his room, wanting nothing than to just lay in his bed and only come out reluctantly to eat or some other absolute necessity. It was such a jarring shift from how Keith usually was that Allura couldn't help but be alarmed. She wasn't being impatient, was she?

Allura sighed as she got up from her desk, stretching herself out and deciding to go for a swim around the palace. She let her mind wander for a few minutes, which was soothing, until she passed by Keith's room. She paused, wondering if she should go check on him. With a sigh, Allura slowly reached out to turn the handle and peeked inside.

As predicted, Keith was lay he in bed, facing away from her. The only movement was the idle floating of his tailfins, and Keith running his fingers along the chain sitting around his neck. If he heard her coming in, he didn't react.

"Keith," Allura began carefully. "Don't you think you should get out a little, get some exercise?"

"No thanks." Keith muttered quietly.

"A-Alright, well, maybe get something to eat? You're probably hungry after that tiny dinner you had yesterday."

"No, I'm fine."

Allura's heart sunk. She leaned away from the door and wrung her hands together worriedly. "Keith, I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I never wanted to make you unhappy."

"It's okay, Allura," Keith replied hoarsely. "I'm not blaming you."

Allura gulped, but had nothing left that she could say to him. "I...I'll send Coran to come check on you later." Then she swam away, leaving him lying there.

* * *

"I'm worried about him, Coran," Allura said as she paced around the room. "He hasn't left his room in weeks, this isn't like him."

Coran was floating loyally in the corner of the room, watching her swim around. "Well, milady, he is grieving," the man replied. "He just needs more time and support, that's all."

"Ugh, I hate this," Allura muttered. "He was so happy, Coran, I've never seen him so excited to see someone before. He finally had a-a _friend,_ something he could look forward to every day." She sunk down into her chair and rested a cheek on her hand. "I wish I didn't have to take that from him."

"Yes, it is sad," Coran agreed. "If only he could change into a human at will, then there would be no danger."

Allura nodded, and continued to sit there quietly.

But, something about Coran's wishful thinking rung a bell. It sounded impossible, but she felt like she'd read that before, somewhere. Slowly, Allura sat up straighter, before swimming out of her hair and toward the door.

Coran looked up curiously and began to follow. "Where are you going, Allura?"

"The the castle library," Allura replied. "I think...there might be a solution to this."

* * *

Lance pulled into the dock, and and started tying his boat down, like he always did at the end of the day. He'd gotten a decent amount of fish today, now it was time to deliver some of it to the palace and the rest to the market.

Things had been a little tense between him and Pidge ever since the merman/poacher incident, so visits to the palace were always quick. Today, however, Pidge and Hunk were both waiting for him at the door, Pidge was crossing her arms as she stared him down.

Lance raised an eyebrow at them. "Here's the delivery," he said, placing it into Hunk's arms. "I'm...gonna go back now."

"Wait, Lance," Hunk called out. "Come back, man, you've been acting weird for ages."

Lance turned around and heaved a sigh. "Look, you guys, I'm sorry, okay?" He said to them. "I've been feeling really bad about what happened. It's all my fault that I blabbed."

Pidge's face softened.

"And I just, I dunno," Lance shrugged. "I know you guys blame me, Prince Shiro probably doesn't want to see me. I'm not going to force my presence on anyone."

"Oh, cut the moody crap, Lance." Pidge snapped. "Of course we still want you around. You're going to make your market delivery and then come back here to have lunch with us. No questions asked." With that, she turned on her heel and marched back inside.

Hunk blinked. "Well. You heard the lady. Hurry back, okay?"

"Uh," Lance stammered. "Okay." He said goodbye to Hunk and then turned to make his way toward the marketplace. On the way, he thought back to what Pidge had said, and a soft smile slowly crossed his face.

* * *

"We can change you."

Keith stared at the book in his hands, dumbfounded. He looked up at Allura, then back at the book. "M-Malfun's Magic can do this?" he manage to ask.

"Yes." Allura responded. "It is a choice that you can make. I strongly advise against it, but..." she paused, taking a breath. "If it will make you happy, Keith, I can do this for you."

 _Malfun's Magic can turn merfolk into humans. Malfun's. Magic. Can turn merfolk into humans._ How long had Allura known about this? Why hadn't _he_ known about this?

Keith flipped through the old book, skimming through its history. Malfun's magic, used in experiments after the war. Trying to establish communication with humans on the surface. Only a few of the later experiments worked before the whole operation was shut down. Only a monarch could re establish it and use the magic again. Only they were allowed to know this.

Keith was shaking. "I-can I see the chamber?"

Allura glanced at Coran, but then nodded, and the three of them promptly left the Palace to go find the chamber. Keith could see it in the distance, dark and looming.

"Keith," Coran began as he swam next to them. "You have to understand. If you go through with this, it will be permanent. You'll never be able to come back. You'll be in a whole new world, with a whole new body."

Keith didn't respond. Allura led them both toward the dark chamber, and they pushed the huge stone door aside. It was even darker on the inside, until they reached the end of the hall and found the abandoned experimental room, w huge hole in the ceiling to let in the light.

"You would have to sit inside that giant sphere over there," Allura explained, pointing as she spoke. "According to the book, the monarch is to place their hands on the orb and focus, while reciting the spell. Then, you will change, and float to the surface...if all goes well." She turned to Keith nervously. "Keith...are you sure you want this."

Keith looked around the chamber and thought over her words, heart pounding. He took a deep breath and turned to them. "Allura, Coran..." he spoke softly. "You guys are my family. You've given me everything, and I couldn't be more grateful." He paused. "But, you know better than anyone that there's nothing for me here. I'm not a prince, and nobody wants to treat me like one. I'm resented by basically everyone except you." He gulped. "This...this is my chance to start over, with someone I love. Please don't take this the wrong way, but...I've got nothing to lose. I want to do this."

"If the experiment fails, Keith, I don't know what might happen," Allura warned him. "Best case, you'll never be able to swim again. Worst case..." she didn't finish.

Keith took a deep breath. "Allura. Please. We have to try."

Allura glanced at Coran, then back at Keith, then finally nodded slowly. "Alright. If that's what you want. Get in the orb."

Keith did as she said, slipping tentatively into the bubble. The swishing of the waves immediately quieted in his ears, and he tensed. His heart was pounding, as he didn't know what exactly would happen, but he'd made his decision. Whatever happened, it was all on him.

Coran was saying something to Allura that Keith's couldn't hear, comfortingly placing a hand on her shoulder. Keith turned to face them, nodding to indicate that he was ready.

Allura carefully studied the open pages in front of her, making sure she had everything right. Then, she slowly swam over to the orb and pressed her palace against it. Everything in Keith's vision started glowing blue, and he closed his eyes in anticipation.

At first, it was nothing. Just a dull vibrating in his tail, then a slight ache. Then Keith gasped as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his tail, travelling upward to his waist as if it was splitting him in half. Keith cursed under his breath and tried not to scream. He'd chosen this, he'd chosen this. Allura couldn't stop now.

He held on for a few more minutes, the pain threatening to knock him out, when it all stopped. Keith fell backward into the small puddle of water at the bottom, breathing heavily. The orb had gone completely solid, draining out most of the water so that he could breathe. He couldn't feel anything below his waist, and the rest of his body throbbed. Vaguely, through the walls, he could see Allura faint into Coran's arms.

He wasn't sure if it had worked, and he didn't have the energy to check. The orb rocked slightly, making him queasy, and then started floating upward through the hole in the ceiling. They were going up to the surface.

Keith took a few deep breaths and, while they slowly travelled upward, claimed himself down. The pain was fading away, and he could feel pins and needles in his...legs?

Keith pushed himself into a sitting position, and finally looked over his new form. His red tail was gone, replaced instead with a couple of twigs covered in pale, dry skin. He blinked slowly, reaching down to feel that they were actually there. He couldn't believe that these things were actually attached to him. He tried bending his knees and wiggling his toes a little. It worked. It actually worked. Keith turned his face toward the outside, to see Coran accompanying him up, supporting a weakened Allura with his arm. Both of them wore excited smiles.

Keith smiled right back, forgetting his earlier pain and instead looking up toward the approaching surface. _I'm coming, Shiro._

* * *

Shiro had more or less been living day to day since Keith's departure. He's switched his daily walks to the beach for walks in the garden instead, and, while he wasn't as sad as before, there was still a heaviness to the way he did everything these days. It didn't matter, though. He could handle being a bit lonely if it meant Keith was safe.

His friends were a nice comfort as well. They'd all been supportive, even if Lance was being a little too apologetic and distant. He enjoyed eating lunch with them, and listening to them talk about whatever was on their minds.

Right now, Pidge was seated at the table, looking impatient for Lance to show up, while Hunk and Matt were discussing something in the corner. Shiro said nothing, amused at Pidge's odd but obvious attachment to Lance that was currently on display, and just continued eating away at his lunch.

After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door and Matt went to open. Lance walked in a couple steps, looking pale, then paused.

Pidge stood up in her seat immediately. "What took you so long? I've been waiting forever!"

Lance opened his mouth, then closed it, looking like a fish, then opened again. "Um...I was freaked out by something. A giant...ball just popped out of the ocean."

Everyone was quiet. Shiro raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"A giant sphere. An orb. I didn't touch it or see what was in it, I just saw it come up out of the water and float toward the beach."

Something inside of Shiro twisted with worry, and he stood up. "Let' go check it out."

"Wait, by ourselves?" Hunk asked. "What about lunch?"

"I need to know what's going on out there. Matt, come with me."

Matt quickly fell into step behind Shiro, and the rest of the teenagers tagged along. Shiro pushed open the palace doors and strode down the familiar path to the beach. He could see what Lance was talking about soon enough. A giant orb, heading slowly over to the beach, and they would be there to meet it.

It hadn't seemed like anyone else had been alerted about this giant orb just yet. Motioning for Matt to follow, Shiro stepped into the water, not at all caring if he got wet. The others followed. Matt reached out and stopped the floating orb in its place, standing in front of Shiro.

The orb was all fogged up on the inside, and something was definitely inside of it. When the orb stopped, whatever was inside started shuffling around. A hand pressed itself to the edge, wiping the fog away...

Shiro almost fainted.

Keith's face stared out at them from inside, smiling instantly when he saw Shiro. There was something different about the way he was moving, but Shiro was too busy wondering what the heck was going on, or if he was dreaming.

Lance and Pidge were yelling something in the back, but he didn't hear. His mouth was currently hanging open as he shakily reached out to touch the sphere, slightly annoyed that he couldn't touch Keith's face.

"Ahem," Allura's sharp voice spoke, pulling Shiro out of his reverie. She and her red-headed servants brought their heads barely above water, just enough to speak. "If you don't mind, that orb is going to be open soon, and we'd like to get him to shore."

Shiro found his voice at last. "What's going on...?"

"Keith decided he wants to stay with you," Allura said rushedly. "So we pulled a few strings. Let's get to the shore and you'll see for yourself.

Shiro and Matt glanced at each other and Shiro nodded. "Okay." They all stepped out of the way and allowed the orb to continue its path, walking alongside it. Keith was waving excitedly at Shiro the whole time, and Shiro couldn't help but smile at him.

The bubble began to dissolve as it got closer to shore, and Shiro reached inside to grab Keith before he fell too far into the water. Right way, he realized why Keith had been moving so awkwardly before.

"He's _human!"_ Pidge squeaked.

"He's _naked!"_ Lance cried in horror. Matt quickly slapped his hands over Pidge's eyes, making her yell.

Shiro, still speechless, looked Keith up and down, blushing only a little before looking back up at his smiling face. "Y-you're not a merman anymore."

"Surprise," Keith replied, pulling closer to Shiro. "Allura did a little magic on me. It's permanent."

"Wh-seriously? Keith, are you sure about this?"

"Shiro, I've never been more sure of anything in my life," Keith said. "And it's not like I can go back now anyway."

"Ok, hold on!" Lance squeaked. "This is all very touching but we can't go on like this-the guy is fucking _naked!_ Hunk, give me your apron, for God's sake."

Shiro snorted as Lance splashed over with his own jacket and Hunk's apron, throwing them at Keith to use as a makeshift loincloth. He laughed joyfully, unable to fully believe that this was happening but not complaining in the slightest. Putting an arm around Keith, he slowly helped him stand up, steadying him as he stumbled.

"Crap," Keith whispered. "I don't know how to use these darn things."

Shiro chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll get used to walking soon enough. Come on, let's get you back to my palace and get you cleaned up."

Pidge immediately fell into step next to Keith and began bombarding him with questions. "Hi! Remember me? I was on the fishing boat you destroyed! I'm so glad to meet you for real, I have so many questions! What's your underwater kingdom like? How did you change yourself into a human? How do merfolk reproduce? How can you breathe in both air and water? How-"

"Pidge," Shiro cut her off. "Relax, you'll have plenty of time to talk to him later."

"Oh man, you really are skinny," Hunk mused. "Are you okay with eating fish? We've still got a ton of it left over, you look hungry."

"Uh," Keith blinked, blindsided by all the sudden attention. "Yeah, I'm fine with that."

"Hey," Lance piped up next. "You know, you owe me a new boat."

"Sorry."

They continued hounding him, but he didn't answer, instead digging his toes in the sand and looking back at the ocean. "Sh-Shiro, wait." He said, stopping the other in his tracks. "I...I haven't said goodbye to Allura and Coran."

Shiro's eyes widened, and he turned to start guiding Keith back to the sea. The two merfolk in question were still there, seemingly watching them walk away. Shiro's friends watched in awe as Keith detached himself from Shiro and managed to stumble his way over to them.

Allura had obvious tears in her eyes but wasn't letting them fall. Keith, on the other hand, got choked up right away. "Allura, Coran, I...can't begin to thank you enough. For everything."

Allura sniffed. "N-no need for that, Keith, you know I'd do anything for you."

"Just be sure to take care of yourself, alright?" Coran said softly. "I'm going to miss you, lad."

"I'll miss you too," He pulled them both into a hug, taking a deep breath to keep from getting too emotional.

When he pulled away, Shiro was there to steady him again. Allura turned to him with a stern look. "Now you take care of him, alright?" She snapped. "If you don't, I'll sic the wrath of the entire ocean on you, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Shiro responded with a slight bow.

Allura seemed appeased, and slowly, Shiro and his friends carried Keith away, toward the palace where they'd begin their new life together. Coran placed a gentle hand on Allura's shoulder, and they both disappeared underwater to go home.

Shiro had handed Keith over to the palace servants to get cleaned up, and now he was pacing around impatiently, waiting for his boyfriend to return. Hopefully they weren't giving him too hard of a time. How would Keith react to the human world? What if he hated it here and only stayed for Shiro?

No, he shouldn't worry. He and Keith would be happy together, he'd make sure Keith had everything he could ever want or need. Keith deserved it.

Soon, the door to the next room opened and out stumbled Keith, supported by one of the lady servants, hair brushed and styled and wearing a bright red suit. Shiro's heart skipped a beat. Keith was still gorgeous.

Keith managed to take a couple steps and grabbed hold of Shiro's hands with a smile. "Hi," he said breathlessly. "How do I look?"

"Amazing," Shiro replied sincerely. He turned to the lady servant. "Thanks, Colleen, I'll take it from here." He nodded at her as she left, and then turned back to Keith. "I...still can't believe you're actually here."

"Me neither," said Keith. "The air's so dry in the palace."

Shiro chuckled and pulled Keith into a hug. "Does it bother you?"

"I think I can deal with it."

Shiro kissed the top of Keith's head affectionately, and held him for just a moment. "Come here, let me show you something."

He led Keith to a window on the opposite side of the room, overlooking the marketplace. "Look at this."

Keith's eyes widened as he stepped closer to the glass. "Oh wow. Is this your kingdom?"

"Part of it," Shiro smiled proudly. "Maybe tomorrow I can take you on a tour, walk you through the market, get whatever you want. You're going to love it here, Keith, I know it."

Keith stared at the landscape a little bit longer. Then he turned to look up at Shiro, eyes fond and smile soft. "I already do."

 **-Fin-**

* * *

 **Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading this story, I really appreciate it. Any comments and feedback would make me very happy, and if you enjoyed the fic, be sure to go read my high school Sheith AU, Crush Course.**

 **Thanks again! 3**


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